Nov 19 2009
Smokeout Now or Tomorrow Again
Twenty years ago I quit smoking. That was a great milestone. I also quit 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 30, 34 years ago. And 35, 36, 36 1/2, 37, 38, 40 and 42. In fact, the first time I quit smoking was 1963. Age 16. My Father put me up against the wall and told me he would nail me there if I didn’t stop smoking. That lasted a couple of years.

I started again in Navy boot camp. Didn’t we all? “Smoke’em if you got’em” Every time we took a ten-minute break in boot camp, we all lit up. Even after working out! It was called PT then. Physical Training. And we smoked before jumping jacks and we smoked after pushups.
I remember running my very first two-mile race, in 1986. When we finished we lit up our cigarettes and had a beer. What idiots.
All I can say is that quitting cigarettes was the most difficult thing I ever did. And I did it over and over and over again. It was like re-gaining all the weight I lost during a diet. Start all over again.
This is the Great Smokeout Day, but few people who stop today will be successful for very long. It is the most addictive habit there is. I think people on drugs have an easier time breaking their habit than tobacco smokers.
People in Alcoholics Anonymous take outside breaks in order to smoke.
People in prison head outside to the exercise yard in order to smoke.
Good Luck to you. 
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