Re: Was Yucky veggies... now smoking

The first time I quit was just after the surgeon general's report. I had to go to hospital to have my appendix removed, so that provided a setting that made quitting somewhat easier than most other scenarios would have. And I did quit. And stayed quit for about 10 years. Then started again. Then quit again. Then started again. Seven or 8 years ago I quit for the last time. I realized one night I could barely breathe. That made the choice so simple; even I could understand it.

You never get over the craving, Melody. I'd sure like to have a cigaret right now. But I want to breathe, so I'll decline. On the up-tick, the craving does abate some over time. I don't pat my shirt pockets any longer looking for a butt. But I do dream about looking for some place to buy cigarets--and even of smoking them after I've bought them.

I've also decided stopping is a perpetual 12-step program. "Step One: Don't smoke now!" "Step Two: See Step One!"

Quitting is the only thing that works. Substituting one gratification for another only makes you fat. Then you've got a real problem--overweight with bad lungs.

Good luck. I'm rooting for all you guys to do yourselves a big favor.

On Thursday, December 16, 2004, at 01:03 AM, Melody wrote:

Well Jim...how long did it take for you to finally quit for the last time??? And how long to get over craving a cigarette?


Melody

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."
--Albert Einstein

 --- On Wed 12/15, james singer < jsinger@igc.org > wrote:
From: james singer [mailto: jsinger@igc.org]
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 18:06:45 -0500
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Was Yucky veggies... now smoking

Yeah, Melody, me too at 14.<br><br>Dixie Samples, who was a half-year
ahead of me in school, and who was a <br>real carnivore, bought them for
me. Lucky Strikes, 25 cents--an amount <br>equal to one day's lunch
money--for a pack of 20. "Lucky Strike green <br>'had gone to war'" a
few years earlier, so this was the white package <br>that doesn't appear
to have changed much since then.<br><br>When I got home from school on
the day Dixie delivered, I went around <br>the corner and sat on the
curb of a street that ran parallel to the one <br>I lived on. I took the
pack out of my pocket, nervously ripped the <br>cellophane from it, tore
the tin-foiled paper open, and froze. Probably
<br>guilt.<br><br>Remember the proper way to tear a pack of cigs open?
There was a tax <br>stamp across the proximate middle of the top. And
the cool thing to do <br>was take care to leave the tax stamp pristine
while ripping out the <br>tin-foil paper on either side of it [but, God
forfend, not both], then <br>thunking the pack on your hand until butt
popped out.<br><br>My father smoked like a stove--two, three packs a day
for 70 years. My <br>mother did not smoke; she thought it was a male
thing and women who <br>smoked were loose or worse. My mother had
peculiar opinions about a lot <br>of things--including how one should
cook vegetables.<br><br>Sitting on the curb, I finally took a deep
breath and knocked a butt <br>out of the pack. Remember that move? You
hit the top of the pack <br>against the side of your hand between your
thumb and index finger. The <br>force of the hit knocked at least one
cig free and accessible.<br><br>All my peers and, indeed, conventional
wisdom, said my first cigarette <br>would make me nauseous. So it was
with some trepidation that I put one <br>in my mouth, struck a match,
placed the flame at the end of the weed, <br>and sucked.<br><br>And then
inhaled. It did not make me nauseous. Rather, It made me feel <br>good.
The male rite of passage [probably] kicked in.<br><br>It would take ne

arly 30 years for me to quit the first time.<br><br><br>On Wednesday,
December 15, 2004, at 12:45 AM, Melody wrote:<br><br>> I smoked my first
cigarette at age 14 and within a couple of months I<br>> was hooked. I
constantly tell my kids it was the single stupidest <br>> moment<br>> of
my life...being too afraid to look uncool in front of these<br>>
"friends"...rarely a day goes by anymore that I don't regret being
a<br>> smoker and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to
quit...sigh.<br>> It's truly the one thing in my life where I feel like
a failure. :-(<br>><br>><br>> Melody Hobert-Mellecker<br>> Director,
Stewardship & Religious Education<br>> St. Joseph's Parish, Hills,
IA<br>><br>> "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the
mysterious."<br>> --Albert Einstein<br>><br>> --- On Tue 12/14, <
gardenqueen@academicplanet.com > wrote:<br>> From: [mailto:
gardenqueen@academicplanet.com]<br>> To: gardenchat@hort.net<br>> Date:
Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:05:05 -0600<br>> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Was Yucky
veggies... now smoking<br>><br>> I know Jim. It's the dumbest thing I do
every day. <br><br>Pam<br>> Evans<br>Kemp, TX<br>zone 8A<br>-----
Original Message -----<br>From:<br>> james singer<br>Sent: 12/14/2004
6:04:16 PM<br>To:<br>> gardenchat@hort.net<br>Subject: [CHAT] Was Yucky
veggies... now<br>> smoking<br><br>Yucky veggies are better for your
health than smoking <br>> is.<br>> If your <br>health is important to
you, that is. If it's not, you might<br>> consider <br>the words of that
famous Oklahoma sage Mickey Mantle: "If<br>> I'd known I <br>was going
to live this long, I'd'a taken better care of<br>>
myself."<br><br>Tobacco is the most addictive substance our society
has<br>> discovered so <br>far. Period. You might be suckered into
believing all<br>> that <br>sanctimonious crap about cocaine and heroin
and morpheme and<br>> marijuana, <br>but it's our government's endorsed
tobacco that it's <br>> real<br>> danger. It <br>will debilitate you
before it kills you, and it will<br>> surely kill you.<br>

<b
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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.0 N, 82.4 W
Zone 10a
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]

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