I JUST DID IT!!!

I QUIT smoking 26 years ago today and believe me, I was a REAL smoker, a pack per day! Cigarettes cost $2 and some change back then. In NYC today, they cost as much as $13 per pack! WTW??? 

Salem 100's, that was my brand. Why? Because that was what my Mother smoked and most teenage smokers started out smoking whatever our parents smoked because that was the brand most accessible to us. Unbeknownst to them, they were our main source. LOL!!! We "borrowed" their cigarettes hoping our parents never noticed their pack deflating quicker than they could light up.

Of course my Mother noticed, she had five children most of who were "borrowing" her cigarettes. Smoking was so socially acceptable back then, there were smoking areas for teenagers with consenting parents to smoke in high school. It was a different time... There were only 20 in a pack! She busted us all very cleverly around the dinner table one evening. We fell for her trick to find out which of us was smoking hook, line and sinker! That's a really funny story for another time...

But yes I quit 26 years ago today and I haven't looked back. Never took another puff. I knew that I had really quit when I survived my first crisis without a cigarette. Smokers understand... I decided that just as the recovering junkie cannot take the occasional hit, I would not test or tempt myself to take the occasional puff. I liked smoking too much. I would have started smoking again just as sure as my name is Helen...

I quit for reasons of self preservation and because someone very near and dear to me at that time simply said, "You are too smart to smoke". Nothing profound but it struck a chord and made perfect sense. I had procrastinated and made false promises to myself to quit for long enough. It was just time and I knew it. It was the healthy thing to do. I quit cold turkey! You CAN too and you WILL when you are ready! BELIEVE IT! Oh YES You CAN!!!

As I reflect on how I just put my mind to quitting 26 years ago today and I just did it, I am standing still and absorbing the moment to motivate my CAN DO spirit to deal with challenges I am facing today. I am reminded, that Oh YES I CAN!!! Oh YES I DID!!! And Oh YES I WILL!!!