Dubitante

As of today, it's been one month since I last smoked a cigarette. And, as anyone who has spent more than an hour or two with me can attest, such an achievement is nothing short of a small miracle.

I smoked alot. A pack or more a day. For the last 9 years. And my longest previous smoke-free stretch during that time was 8 days (and that was more 8 years ago!).

So far, quitting hasn't been as bad as I feared it would be. It hasn't been a barrel of laughs, mind you; but, it's been tolerable. The strongest cravings have pretty much passed, and now it's mostly my deeply engrained habits which cause the most trouble. Sometimes, I still instinctually reach into my pocket for a pack when I finish eating, or complete a writing assignment, or get on the phone, or receive some good news, or receive some bad news, or get off the Metro escalator, or just about anything. I've been using 3-4 nicotine lozenges a day, which helps take the edge off, and am starting to cut back on those. Hopefully within another month, I'll be completely nicotine free. We can hope.

I'm far from ready to call myself a non-smoker, but one month is a good start. If I can keep it up, I may actually live long enough to pay back my loans...