Great to meet you, @Slow progress! Congrats on giving those smokes the heave-ho. I, too, quit after more than 40 years of smoking. At first I thought I could never be happy without cigarettes. But it turns out that feeling of “I’m going to be miserable forever” is an illusion… it’s something our addiction does to put up a fuss about withdrawal. It’s not accurate. Smoking was NOT our true friend, because real friends don’t bind us in chains, mess with our heads, then slowly try to kill us.
It takes a while to recalibrate, but it IS possible! And there are a lot of good people here to help. Keep at it, and let us know how you are feeling day by day.