This is my 19th day staying quit from cigarettes. My lungs and heart feel much better, and my blood pressure has gone down! I am so thankful that I have got a loving family that takes care of me when I don't feel like making life worthwhile.
My experience with smoking was a dreadful one. It lasted about 7 years, and no one knows more than me the effects it has on mental health. I know that a lot of people smoke for most of their lives; it is increasingly important to get the message out there to kids not to believe in the lies about it 'relaxing you' or that it makes you look cool.
The way I'm keeping my quit is to replace it with little projects, like telling myself to try to get myself to grieve my deceased loved ones naturally because I never really grieved correctly. Or other things like taking notes on habits and changing them, so I can try to experience life a bit differently. Walking and taking care of my hygiene.
Peer pressure can get anyone. When I was a kid, the teachers brought in police men who did classes called DARE which were about the dangers of drugs, smoking, or other things. I think some people were tempted by those classes into testing out their theories. I got depressed because I was stuck in too many situations, and it felt like my whole family was dying. Five in about five years. I'm only 26.
Anyway, I would also say rely on whatever your main go-to, stability is. I'm still trying to figure that one out, but my goodness I think I got a handle of my life finally.