Turning 10,960 | Smoke free
I’ve been thinking about how life would appear if we began measuring our age in days instead of years. Doing so gives us a broader, or at least a different perspective of our lives. As a result, I’ll attempt to be unresponsive to the fact that I have entered my 30s this week. This post is my second day of writing since hitting 30, as I have pledged to write every day from now on. In my previous post, I discussed turning thirty, and you can find it here.
I am continuing to concentrate on things that I am proud to carry with me into my 30s, and one of them is my success in giving up my smoking habit. Here is an image captured on November 21, 2019, when I was in my mid-twenties, living life freely, and being an ignorant yet proud or “cool” smoker.
Let’s take a closer look at the frequency of my smoking. I began smoking in late 2014, at the age of 21. Thus, I have smoked for approximately 7.5 years, which equates to around 2,800 days. During this time, I have smoked around 20,000 cigarettes, and I estimate that I have spent approximately Rs. 3,40,000 (or approximately USD 4000) on smoking.
I began to ponder whether I wanted to continue living my life as a smoker, even if it meant that I had to experience the following issues for the rest of my life or whatever life was still available due to smoking:
Bad breath, breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, headaches, difficulty in focusing, frequent cold/cough/flu, reduced fitness/stamina, sexual health problems, looking older/aging skin, reduced sense of smell and taste, an increased risk of cancer, dry eyes, weaker bones, heartburn or acid reflux, sleep disturbances, hair loss, lower confidence, and guilt.
Furthermore, I noticed that my integrity was beginning to diminish. Specifically, in January 2023 (this year), despite my intentions to smoke only on weekends, I found it challenging to keep to this promise. One weekday morning, as I was preparing to leave for the gym, I stumbled upon a pack of cigarettes left on the living room table. Since I was sharing the apartment with others, it was likely forgotten by one of our guests.
Despite being entirely prepared to head to the gym, with all of my workout supplements and gear already packed, I gave in to temptation and smoked one of the easily accessible cigarettes at 6 in the morning after taking my pre-workout supplement. This moment of weakness left me feeling incredibly ashamed of myself. It was a stark reminder of my dwindling self-control, which was further emphasized by the regret I felt after smoking one seemingly useless cigarette.
It was evident that I required external assistance to overcome my addiction. Willpower alone wasn’t enough to break the habit. I needed to institute additional measures to ensure success. Like anyone else who has already tried quitting, I have fallen victim to temptation and relapsed in the past. This time, however, the impact of temptation was much stronger, rendering me helpless and being controlled by it rather than the other way around.
Simply put, we cannot stop smoking by consciously deciding to quit, unless we adopt a complete cold turkey approach. This is because cigarettes are easily accessible in our urban environment, making the battle even more difficult. Instead, it would be more effective to focus on targeting the specific part of the brain that drives us to smoke and educate it about the problem.
QuitSure was instrumental in rescuing me by training my subconscious mind about the reality of smoking. The program lasted only six days and was straightforward to follow, allowing me to quit smoking without struggling with cravings or battling mentally. It was like witnessing magic or a miracle.
Previously, I believed that I couldn’t enjoy beer, road trips, vacations, or even tea without smoking. However, the program addressed all of these concerns, and the outcome was better than any smoker could have ever imagined. You don’t need to have willpower; all that is required is to download the app and buy the one-time program. (I recommend choosing the video program rather than the text-only version for better results.) Moreover, smoking is still permitted during the program, and there is no mental or physical pressure to quit immediately. Simply wait for six days, and you will see the magic.
I have witnessed people close to me who successfully completed the program and became smoke-free. Since then, I have been encouraging people in my community to try it out and increase the smoke-free population.
As a result, I am extremely proud of myself for having overcome this habit and not carrying it into my thirties. Once I became smoke-free, I pinned a photo to my work desk to remind myself of how great it felt.
Ever since quitting smoking, I have conducted all my activities as a smoke-free individual. This experience has allowed me to empathize with those who have yet to give it a try.
