Five years without a cigarette

It was five years ago yesterday that I quit smoking for good. I haven't had a single cigarette or cigar, not a puff, since. I'm done. I'm sure.

If you are a smoker, here's some friendly advice.

1. Don't give up. I went through periods of "light" smoking and heavier smoking and always thought to myself, "I can quit when I'm ready." I even quit for as much as a couple of years at a time. Even though I would start again, I kept making efforts to quit and I eventually won. Don't resign yourself to being a smoker just because your attempts to quit thus far haven't lasted, if you keep trying, you'll eventually win too.

2. Try anything, try everything. My eventual permanent success came about through the use of the prescription drug Chantix. It worked like a charm for me. No side effects -- no effects at all except that, after a little while, I simply did not desire a cigarette. It kept the desire at bay long enough for me to physically and mentally free myself from my need for cigarettes. There is plenty of good advice out there for techniques and steps that can increase your chances of successfully quitting. Don't be afraid to try them, even if you have before or even if they seem foreign to you.

3. Believe in your unseen reward. If you smoke, you are oblivious to just how much better your body and mind can feel without cigarettes. Trust me on this. One thing I can guarantee you is that, if you quit, you will reap an eventual but obvious improvement in your sense of wellbeing. "Healthy" will manifest itself in a physical way with you that you will feel viscerally. You can only appreciate how vastly superior this condition is to that while you were a smoker by experiencing it, but it's real, substantial and very positive. This is not to say that you may not have some significant, maybe even tortuous suffering as you try to quit, but that will go away if you can outlast it and your rewards are some very good feelings you cannot even imagine yet, but they are there, waiting for you.