JimHannoonen

I caught a cold. Not once since I quit smoking have I had so much as a sniffle, but I came down with a pretty bad head cold last week. Back when I was a smoker. I'd be knocking at deaths' door and would still smoke a pack a day. Coughing and wheezing the whole time. I remember how when I would get sick, it would always move down to my chest and would take weeks to get back to feeling semi-normal and even then, my cough would sometimes stick around for months. This time, I started feeling bad last Friday, got really bad by Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday and here I am on Friday -a week later- and am almost back to 100%. I hope you're all doing well. NOPE!

It was five years ago today that I snubbed out my last smoke. I remember it like it was yesterday, now that I really think about it (which I rarely do anymore). I was standing in my usual smoking spot on the side of the house. I looked at my last smoke and said "I'm done". At that exact moment, I made the commitment to never smoke again. I promised myself that no matter what -no matter how hard it was or how angry I got - I would never EVER take another puff of a cigarette. Now here I am and all the withdrawals, obsessing, stressing and general madness that went along with the first days, weeks and months of my quit are all just very faded memories. I rarely even think about cigarettes anymore and when I do, it's hard to believe I ever smoked at all. It's just such a foreign concept. My girlfriend honestly forgets that I ever smoked and if I happen to tell people I've met that I used to smoke, they can't imagine it. I never thought I would NOT be thought of as a smoker. It's a pretty amazing feeling. I smoked a pack a day for thirty years and was as addicted as anyone and if I can quit, anyone can. YOU can! If you're struggling, stick with it. If you feel weak, post an SOS here. Make the commitment to never smoke again and honor that commitment Every. Single Day. Your life depends on it! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!

I'll toss on a cool 32,760. It's so rare that I think about smoking anymore that that number completely blows my mind.

This is great news! Glad to see you're happy and healthy!

So that's it? After all that, you're just going to go back to smoking?

It sucks that you can't suck poisonous chemicals into your lungs and kill yourself slowly and also stink like an ash tray? Do you actually read what you're writing? You need to get your head straight!

Our current Corgi collection, Cooper and Callum.

Four years ago I decided I'd had enough. I decided that I wasn't going to go out the same way my Old Man did at the age of 56 with lung cancer. That was it. It was my decision and my commitment. Once I'd made that decision, it was a done deal. I knew I would never smoke again, and I haven't. It wasn't easy at first, but it's easy now. I rarely even think about smoking anymore and when I do, it's such a far away memory it doesn't even seem real. It also terrifies me to think about what I would feel like if I'd kept smoking. The toll those 30,000+ cigarettes I would have smoked would have had on my body. To be honest, I sometimes wonder if I'd still be alive if I hadn't quit. I loved cigarettes as much as anyone else and if I was able to quit, you can too. If you're struggling, toughen up and stick with it. I promise it will be worth it! NOPE!

Oh Opah, it pains me to see this post from you. I remember when I first quit, you were there right with me and to see you still struggling four years later is tough. You need to get it right, man! Get your head in the game! You know what to do, now DO IT! Not One Puff Ever!

Years ago, I quit and hadn't had a single smoke for two years. One day, after a particularly stressful day at work, I bought a pack of smokes intending to smoke only one. I was back to a pack a day within a week and continued to smoke for another 12 years. I'm coming up on 4 years quit and now know that it's all or nothing. I can't have "just one". To think I can is stupid. This may not be the case with you, but as someone else posted, "Either you smoke, or you don't smoke". It's as simple as that.

What about the reality that smoking could very well kill you. Just man-up and quit. What are you afraid of, being uncomfortable and cranky? Ugh! I'm sorry to sound like a douche, but this whole scenario you're painting is so half-assed I'm having a hard time believing your even serious.

Dude, you either smoke or you don't smoke. You can tell yourself whatever you want, but you're not doing yourself any favors by "cutting back".

Sad to read that you were smoking so much, but happy to see you're back on the wagon and hopefully for good this time!

My only excuse was that I thought I loved smoking. It just blows my mind that I thought that.

I quit using Chantix. I used it exactly as instructed and here I am, coming up on 4 years quit. That said, it's NOT a magic pill. You will still need to be committed to your quit.