I love this thread, you guys?
I'm 31; I'll be 32 June 8th (even though it says I'm 32 in my profile for some reason...). And I think Phil is definitely on to something with the younger harder thing. I'm someone who realized the possible perils of smoking and always knew I would quit. I said at 25 that I would quit by the time I'm 30 years old. When I was about to turn 30 I tried, failed, etc...and just kept putting it off. But each time I tried to quit, I learned more about this addiction, more about myself and my triggers and reasons for smoking, and more about the tools available to someone who is serious about quitting. And it's all lead up to this quit, almost two full years later than I had resolved to, and I know that this is THE ONE. But I do wonder sometimes if my ability and determination to quit this time has to do with me maturing. Finally "getting" it. Ya know?
But regarding the invincibility issue: I did have that mind-set about everything under the sun. "It won't happen to me", etc... But one of my biggest excuses to keep smoking that I used over and over making myself feel invincible, was that the older people in my family who smoked (all of my grandparents, great grandparents, etc) never had any health issues directly related to smoking. That's not to say that my grandpa's smoking didn't speed up his downfall from Parkinsons, I'm sure it did. But, point is, it was easy to use their lack of health issues as a topic of rationalization.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on this stuff. Now: anybody got anything heavy they need me to carry for them?
--Shakes
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/5/2007
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 55
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,100
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $495.00
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 6 [B]Hrs:[/B] 21 [B]Mins:[/B] 22 [B]Seconds:[/B] 50