3 Reasons I Haven’t & 3 Reasons I Really Want to Quit Smoking

1. I like it! When I’m not standing in the freezing cold, or up to me knees in water, I just plain enjoy smoking. I’ve put down and picked up my smokes a number of times now, and I always find it easiest to stop smoking over the winter months.
2. I need it when I’m drinking! Ask any smoker who drinks socially, there’s something akin to a strong nuclear force which binds your drink of choice to that smoke you can’t put down. In fact I’ve known people who don’t identify as smokers to light two or three up during a night of drinking.
3. It’s bloody hard! The biological addiction to nicotine may pass in 3 days if you’re quitting cold turkey, but that’s never been the hard part for me. It’s all about the psychology of the habit.

1. I hate it! Yep there’s definitely a love/hate relationship for me and smoking. As much as I love a good smoke, I also recognize the power it has over me, which is why I want this winter to be the last time I quit smoking.
2. I’m almost 35! I used to be really physically active, cycling was a passion both road and trail. Even if I’ve always had a bearish build, I knew I was good for cardio. Since entering the white collar work force my level of exercise has been on a steady decline. At one point I promised myself to be in a gym and have that extra padding turned to extra muscle by the time I turned 30. I’m 3 years past that point and even if discovery of bear culture has shed a lot of body image issues, I know I need to be paying attention to my heart and smoking certainly isn’t helping there.
3. More Money! Even though I’ll probably never really register the extra cash on a day to day basis, $2000 a year has to help somewhere.

Smoking is a funny habit. You know it’s bad, you hate the smell, the way you feel in the morning, that each cig you spark up is another nail in your coffin. Yet there you are standing in the rain grabbing that quick smoke between lunch and heading back to work. Crack ain’t got nothing on this shit. If I don’t quit soon and for good I feel like I’m never going to put out my last smoke. So I set out to chronicle what I aim to make my final, successful attempt to quit smoking for good right here on my blog.

Got a quit smoking story or something to say on the topic? In the process of quitting now, or want to join me on my journey? Leave a comment and let’s talk about it.