I'm Such A Quitter...

I used to be a smoker.

I smoked for about 35 years. I started smoking while in high school. I probably started because all the cool kids did it and, well, dammit, I wanted to be a cool kid. Also, a girl I liked smoked. She smoked Salem Light 100's (in a box). I concluded that if I, too, smoked Salem Light 100's (in a box) I might stand a better chance with her. The success of that is debatable, although she is still one of my dearest friends to this day.

But at 10:58am (PST) on January 16, 2012 I crushed out what would be my last cigarette.

In that 35 years, I surmise I smoked around 19,200 packs of cigarettes. For those keeping score at home, that would be some 384,000 individual cigarettes. Permit me to put this into perspective for you:

Over the course of those 35 years, I figure I averaged a pack and a half a day. At an average price of $3.25 per pack, I spent in the neighborhood of $62,400 on cigarettes. That's money that, quite literally, went up in smoke.

What could I have bought with that money? Well, let's see:

A 2016 Shelby GT350R...

A 1925 Martin 00-45...

A nicely appointed 2017 Mercedes Benz E300 sedan...

A two week stay in the Presidential Suite at New York's Waldorf Astoria...

A three bedroom house in Pensacola, Florida...

Hindsight, huh?

But it is what it is. My clothes and my hair used to stink all the time. I never realized it, of course, but they did. Now, that only happens when I've been tending bar (they allow smoking in bars in Florida). I went a long time thinking it wasn't really an issue.

But all of that's in the past now. It's been five years since I put out that last cigarette. Since then, I've been through quite a bit, but I never faltered; not once. I'm proud of that. I put on a few pounds as a result. I'm dealing with that. But there's no denying that I know I feel much better than I did five years ago and, well, my wallet's in better shape, as well.

Now, I still get cravings. I get them all the time. I had a craving the other night that was one of the strongest I recall ever having. But the cravings will pass whether I light up or not, so I simply choose not to. After all, I'm a non-smoker.

For those who think they can't do it, I'd disagree. I won't throw out the "If I can do it you can do it" platitudes, though. Instead, I will say that, once I decided I wanted to quit; I mean really, truly wanted to quit, it was one of the easiest things I've ever done.

Maybe it'll be like that for you...