Funeral for a Habit

Ever since I started this whole non-smoking thing, the subject has gained a bit of attention amongst my friends and acquaintances. That’s one thing about working in a bar, you mention something and everyone has an opinion or story about it. It keeps my job interesting. 

I have been getting so much encouragement to quit, and the board is on the wall right in my face every day to remind me that I can’t fuck up. I’ve also been hearing a lot of personal stories related to smoking like first times, number of years and/or attempts to quit and childhood memories of why smoking that little piece of shit stick makes us feel so good.

Aside from the $999.99 bet I have going with Tony - which could potentially pay my way to SF in March - I truly and honestly believe I will never be a smoker again. I’m just ready. I have tried to quit a couple times in the past, failing months, weeks, days in. I have been told that to quit for good you have to be ready and I never realized what that truly meant until now.

The first few days I made sure to eliminate all the triggers that go along with my habit; coffee in the morning, boredom, the end of busy shifts, sitting on my porch first thing in the morning, and the big one……drinking. I re-routed my day to help with the temptation of smoking and it actually worked.

The biggest help throughout this whole process has been the non-smoking board. A few of the customer’s at the bar also made quitting smoking their 2012 resolution, so I decided to create a point system (with a reward of course), kind of like in elementary school with stickers and all. It’s my way of gaining control over something new, and helpful after giving up something I had no control over.

This re-direction of energy has worked wonders this past week for myself and my fellow dedicated non-smokers. You just have to make sure you’re ready, and the people around you are ready or you’ll be disqualified (Marv). And not to mention, I don’t think you want a group of angry smokers trying to quit against you….especially on their third day.

It’s Monday, officially a week without a cigarette and I feel great. All of the things I miss about smoking have subsided and have been replaced with things I have missed out on the last eight years (I started when I was 16). I won’t jump the gun and start posting pictures of decaying lungs, and rotting teeth on pregnant ladies (because we all know how well that works to prevent smoking) because this is just the beginning. But I will keep you in the loop with my progress/struggles/close calls to keep my self aware and motivated and hopefully help someone who is also ready to take the jump but just needs that extra push.