I apologize in advance if I am uncharacteristically snarky or irritable over the next few weeks.

I quit smoking tobacco on January 30th - it's been 5 days since my last fix of nicotine. Some may remember that I had quit back at the end of 2012, but it didn't take - I made the mistake of thinking I could have a cigarette or two occasionally. Yeah, right.

I came down with a nasty case of bronchitis while on vacation, and after two very serious respiratory illnesses over the last 2 1/2 years, I finally got it through my thick skull that if I wanted to live for more than a handful more years, I had to do something before it was too late - if indeed is not already so.

I completely understand. I had quit for the month of December only to pick them back up, using my move to NYC as an excuse. I also quit for six months in 2011, but used losing my job as an excuse to pick the habit back up.

I wish you the best; I know how hard it is. A dirty secret is that there is no physical addiction after 72 hours. To me this knowledge makes quitting even more difficult in that the rationalizations we create about the enjoyment of smoking become stronger.

I recently read an article that posits that its difficult to temper current behavior based on long term effects, whether health realted or saving for retirement, because we consider our future self as someone else.

Found it...
http://nautil.us/issue/9/time/why-we-procrastinate

Quote: Parfit’s view was controversial even among philosophers. But psychologists are beginning to understand that it may accurately describe our attitudes towards our own decision-making: It turns out that we see our future selves as strangers. Though we will inevitably share their fates, the people we will become in a decade, quarter century, or more, are unknown to us.

Does this mean that there is a God, he is going to make you burn in hell, and the way he is going to metaphorically accomplish that is by making his goons post stupid things until you smoke yourself to death?

Good luck with the journey.

(February 5, 2014 at 12:51 am)Ryantology (╯°◊°)╯︵ ══╬ Wrote: Does this mean that there is a God, he is going to make you burn in hell, and the way he is going to metaphorically accomplish that is by making his goons post stupid things until you smoke yourself to death?

How can I smoke myself to death in Hell, assuming of course that I already died and am there for eternity?

(February 5, 2014 at 1:24 am)Cato Wrote:

(February 5, 2014 at 12:51 am)Ryantology (╯°◊°)╯︵ ══╬ Wrote: Does this mean that there is a God, he is going to make you burn in hell, and the way he is going to metaphorically accomplish that is by making his goons post stupid things until you smoke yourself to death?

How can I smoke myself to death in Hell, assuming of course that I already died and am there for eternity?

You die a horrible, lingering death, wake up in a room with nothing but a forum full of GC and Drich posts to which you have to individually respond, resulting in the uncontrollable urge to smoke cigarettes until you emphysema yourself to death again. Rinse and repeat. Forever.

(February 5, 2014 at 1:50 am)Ryantology (╯°◊°)╯︵ ══╬ Wrote: You die a horrible, lingering death, wake up in a room with nothing but a forum full of GC and Drich posts to which you have to individually respond,...

OK, fine, I quit! Happy now, you twisted sadistic bastard?

I was a Christian most of my life and I'm trying very hard not to be!

Good luck with that, CD. I don't know how tough it is from personal experience. My mother quit before I was born and admitted that even 30 years later she would have dreams where she was smoking and would wake up with cravings. My twin sister suffers from COPD that she thinks was caused by smoking, and during times of stress she is tempted to buy a pack. It's difficult but the benefits are worth it.

Quitting is a bitch. Stock up on gum and ride it out as best you can. Good luck.