Hi, Lady. Wow, I'd forgotten all about this. I remember how excited you were when you mentioned it a while back. :)
Maybe you can record your speech, then have it transcribed. I'd really like to see it, too. I bet a lot of people here would.
I quit because of the typical reasons: health, money, social status.
There was the time involved, too:
Time to go to the ATM to get the money.
Time to go to the store on the reservation (a couple of miles out of my way) to get the cigs.
Time spent missing part of PBS shows because they don't have commercial breaks.
Time spent on vacation trips in rest stops "taking a break" which really meant "getting a fix".
Time stolen from talking with my wife.
Time stolen from relaxing after a meal.
Time stolen from waking slowly in the morning.
What keeps me quit:
Everytime I take a deep breath, I notice how much easier it is now, how much deeper, and no more rattles, gurgles, or coughs.
Everytime I run an agility course I notice how faster I recover.
Everytime I laugh hard I notice that I can laugh hard and long without breaking into a hacking fit on the first "Ha".
Everytime I wear a shirt bought after I quit, I think "Never any burn holes in this one."
Sometimes I'll sniff the index and middle fingers on my right hand just to enjoy the lack of the "smoke stink".
Everytime I lean over my wife's shoulder to look at something on her monitor I notice she doesn't cough and move her head away from me anymore.
The list goes on, but these are examples of the many small things I notice everyday in recognition of the success of my quit. Even though I still have an occasional "twinge", nothing is so bad that it will outweigh all the benefits. I think the small things are where the true success lies and if we recognize all the small benefits we will have a much easier time of it.
Keep up the good quits, everyone.
Shevie
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 5/23/2005
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 471
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 9,436
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1789.8
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 87 [B]Hrs:[/B] 22 [B]Mins:[/B] 59 [B]Seconds:[/B] 5