Hello everyone,

I think this is a good time to let you all know I really did do it! I quit. After all those years and all those different times I attempted to do it; I finally can say, "I am an Ex-Smoker". On January 24, 2001 it will be officially one year. I know, I am jumping the gun a bit here with the title of this, but I have a dead line to meet and so I went for it.

Folks it was not as difficult to DO IT as it was to actually make the plan to do it. I spent almost a year and a half finding excuses to Not Stop. I am bored........this was my favorite reason to smoke. It was most certainly not true but it sounded great to me at the time. Boredom is always a good excuse for just about anything, but for the reason to not quit it is a real winner. Folks feel sorry for you and you can feel a little sorry for yourself as well.

All excuses aside, I finally was just plain sick of the stinking smell of me!!!!!! You know what I am talking about here folks; yellow teeth, clothes that stink, fingers that are orange and smell. You have the picture, I'm sure.

Well, the big chance to really pull it off came when we moved to a Non-Smoking building. Going outside like a convict on free time was not the best way to relax and enjoy my cigs. Let me say right up front, I did not
quit because I hated it, because it was bad for my health (heck we all know That!); I quit because I finally realized I wanted to. The big difference here is I was in control of my decision. Not anyone else.

And so, I put out the big bucks and bought the patch. I made sure I had plenty of them so I never ran out. I went to bed at ungodly hours; like 7PM at night! My kids thought I was sick. I finally told them I went to bed so I could go to sleep and miss out on the "quitting pains" as much as possible. This was only partly true, mostly I found I did not have the "high" that goes with the nicotine. I was getting it out of my system and I did not have the energy (false as it was) as when I smoked.

I made up My mind that it was going to work. I told Everyone (so they could cheer me on). I told myself that I would not stay away from smokers (I have a lot of old smoking buds out there). I did not have a drink until I felt confident that I could handle it because the two of them go together, or at least they used to go together for me.

Surprisingly, it has been a nice year for me as a non-smoker. I have a great smeller now instead of being a smeller. I can sniff it a mile away on people. My house has a nice odor now and I don't have dirty ashtrays stinking up the place. But best of all, I can breathe like a young person again. I can take those wonderful deep breaths and hold it and let it come out from way down deep and know that my lungs are strong and working as they were meant to work.

I am not running three miles a day, doing aerobics or giving everyone I meet a pep talk on quitting. I am not a zealot ex-smoker, (don't you just hate them?) nor do I have tons of extra cash from not buying the cigs. Instead, I am working on loosing the extra ten pounds I put on. Best of all, I am not coughing my brains out or sitting outside any longer pretending I am enjoying something while I am either roasting or freezing to death.

I simply quit! I quit for ME! And I hope you can quit for YOU! It's a Wonderful Thing!

Happy Holidays,

Barbara
Editor, Women's Health at OBGYN.net
Barbara.Nesbitt@obgyn.net

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