Three years ago today, I moved from smoking 40+ cigarettes a
day, to smoking nothing at all. It was a personal triumph, and this third anniversary
is a very personal celebration.
The past eighteen months have been difficult and stressful…don’t
they tell you that stress will induce you to restart smoking ? Don’t believe
it, it’s not true. It’s like saying that heights will induce you to jump from
them. It’s only YOU, not the situation or the circumstance.
I have been very touched by the solicitude of my smoking
friends, who used to take my permission before lighting up in front of me…….don’t
they tell you that you get tempted by the smell of the smoke ? Don’t believe
it, you only find it revolting, but you treat it with tolerance because it’s
something you used to do – and know that you will never do again.
At work recently, I met a veteran smoker who told me
(between puffs) : “You WILL smoke, my friend. But I’ll tell you when. When all
is done and dusted, and you have retired and settled down and become a
grandfather; and you have paid off all your liabilities and provided for the
future of all your dependents and prepared a tidy document to guide people on
what to do when you’re no longer there; that’s when you’ll go out and buy a packet
of cigarettes and say, ‘Now I can afford to die!’ Mark my words !”
An interesting statement, that. But there are flaws in that
argument. First, everybody dies; and second, no one gets to choose how to die –
but you sure as hell have a vote in deciding how NOT to die.
But the clincher, at the end of it all, is that giving up
smoking is about living : living better, living healthier, living longer and
rejoicing that you were able to do, without medical catalysts, something that
less than 5 out of any given 100 people have been able to do.
Here’s to another year, then.
