One Year Smoke-Free Today

 

Today, I’m celebrating my first anniversary of being smoke-free. No cigarettes, not one puff, no shisha, no nothing.

Here’s my smoking story. I used to be an athlete who trained almost every single day for 10 years, so my life was far from the smoking and drinking lifestyle. When I was almost 25, all of a sudden cigarettes were too close to me and I started “smoking”. Let me just put it straight, I don’t blame anyone and anything for my smoking, it was me who was stupid enough, no one else, but I had cigarettes around me for the first time in my life. That’s a fact. It all started with “give me a cigarette”, then I smoked at parties, then I bought my very first own pack and with time I realized “oh shit, I’m a smoker”. Let alone those months when I was smoking a pack per day.

I don’t want to upset anyone who might be struggling with quitting, but for me it was surprisingly easy. There was actually no decision to quit, I was just enjoying cigarettes less and less. One day I woke up, glanced at a pack of cigarettes on my cupboard and realized I hadn’t smoked for more than a week. Then I reached 2 months, 3 months. No withdrawal symptoms, no anxiety, no cravings and no nicotine replacement. Also, no overeating and gaining weight. Smoking has nothing to do with your weight. I had no thoughts of cigarettes except for two specific moments when I felt like smoking. But I didn’t go for it. I went to Vietnam last year, it was my first solo trip and since it used to be “my thing” just to sit down, look around while smoking, for a fleeting moment I thought it might be cool to have a cigarette. The other moment was when I landed safely in Prague after this journey. Clearly, it wasn’t nicotine I was “craving”, but some kind of ritual.

Do I feel better? Of course I do. I don’t intend to lecture anyone on how unhealthy smoking is and what the impact may be, we all know that more than well and smoke (smoked) anyway. Besides, the key is in your head…

For a moment I was wondering whether my quitting “counts”, because honestly, I didn’t put my mind and heart into it. I just quit. Anyway, chances are that’s the thing. So yeah, it counts. Absolutely.

Good luck to all of you who are trying your hand at quitting.

Thanks for stopping by!