So, today is the “Great American Smokeout”. I stopped smoking over 9 months ago, thanks to a comment one of my neighbors made about Americans not wanting to be “uncomfortable”, thus explaining why some of us don’t quit.
I got through the first hours and days of withdrawal by remembering the simple fact that the urge to smoke lasts up to two minutes at most, figuring I could handle feeling “uncomfortable” for two minutes at a time.
I do occasionally think about falling off the wagon, but fear that if I tried even one cigarette, I’d end up dead, nicotine and the other toxins having such an immediate, radical effect on heart rate and blood pressure.
Meanwhile, not sure what value there is in having a smoke-out day. I used to resent having anti-smoking messages shoved in my face, and imagine most of my fellow addicts feel the same way.