Quit Smoking Monday Messages

I'm going to hand this week's Monday Message over to Michelle, a moderator at our support forum here at About.com Smoking Cessation. She's just reached an important milestone that is worth sharing.

Congratulations, Michelle!

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100,000 Cigarettes Not Smoked!

My Smoke-Free Stats: Six years, ten months, four days, 0 minutes and 56 seconds. 100000 cigarettes not smoked, saving $18,750.00. Life saved: 49 weeks, 4 days, 5 hours, 20 minutes.

Wow! I haven’t posted a milestone in almost 2 years, but I couldn’t let this one pass by without sharing the good news. Now, to celebrate, I will list 100,000 reasons why I am glad I quit smoking! HA! Ok, I will spare you that list. Here is a breakdown, though, of a few figures that I think will illustrate the significance of that number…100,000.

100, 000 cigarettes = 5,000 packs = 500 cartons!

Assuming it takes about 7 minutes to smoke a cigarette, it takes 700,000 minutes to smoke 100,000 cigarettes…or about 11,667 hours…or about 486 days…or about 16 months. That means that of the nearly 7 years I’ve been smoke-free, if I hadn’t quit, I’d have been smoking for 16 months…or 19% of the time. Yikes!

What can I say to help each of you believe that you can reach this same milestone? What helped me the most during the process was reminding myself, sometimes daily and sometimes 10 times a day, that the quit-related discomforts are temporary. The nagging thoughts of having a cigarette, romanticizing the act, rationalizing having just a puff or two, feeling down in general because you just want it to be over already…all these things go away IF you slowly but surely just put one more day between you and your last cigarette…and then one more day…

Believe me when I tell you that I used to be a very impatient person. I had lots of patience for other people, but I couldn’t seem to give myself a break. I grew frustrated when I didn’t feel I had it licked at 3 months. Heck, people quit all the time right? I’d heard stories about people just throwing the cigarettes down and never thinking about picking them up again. Well, I’d done the research, developed my quit plan and paid attention to the people ahead of me. Yet, months after I quit, thoughts of having a cigarette knocked on my brain from time to time. I was plagued by thoughts that I must be doing something wrong. I should be recovered at 3 months, right?

Wrong!

This is when the whole notion of quitting smoking being a process and not an event became real to me. It takes how long it takes, and I just knew that I’d seen what it was like on the other side. I paid close attention to those who were ahead of me…significantly ahead of me. They were happy. If they were happy, it must get better. It must, and it did…with time and patience.

• Patience with the Process

• There Is No Substitute for Time

Before I quit, I spent SO much time…wasted so much time inhaling and exhaling and inhaling and exhaling deadly toxins, poisoning my body and my mind and my spirit…slowly torturing my body, creating damage that can never be undone. The body has seen better days, but my mind and my spirit are healthy and strong, and they are what keep me from ever entertaining the thought of picking up another cigarette. That…and I just don’t want to smoke anymore.

There is a reason why you will find so many milestone posts that read, “If I can quit smoking, you can too.” It is the plain and simple truth. Every person reading this can achieve the same. Believe it, and then commit to doing whatever it takes to make it happen. Quitting smoking has truly been the most empowering, liberating thing I’ve ever done. It’s my hope that each of you make the very most of your journey to freedom from nicotine addiction.

I dedicate this milestone to my mom, Betty (Blossom), who is celebrating 3 months smoke-free today! Mom, from day 1, you were my biggest cheerleader, and I’ll always be grateful for your support. I love you, and I’m so proud of you. Congratulations, (((((Mom)))))!

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Take The Quit Smoking Monday Pledge

Healthy Monday encourages us to think of every Monday as a day that we can begin work anew on goals that we have for ourselves. If you're still smoking, put your cigarettes down and get started on your quit program today.

• Quit Smoking Monday Messages Archive

We all have the ability to quit smoking successfully, and we all deserve a life that is free of addiction. Honor your life by choosing Monday as the day to start and reinforce your quit program.

You can quit smoking ... and we’re here to help you, one simple Monday at a time.

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