I didn't realize just long I'd been away from this lovely community until Breathing Happy sent me an email wondering about my two week absence. It wasn't that I'd forgotten; I've felt my lack of blogging. Life just keeps intervening.
My grandpa is now home from the hospital (thank you for all the kind thoughts, by the way), his healing process is being really slow, so we've all been trying to take care of him the best that we can. That, plus the fact that I'm a full time college student and a part time cashier makes life a little stressful.
However, this doesn't mean that Breathing Happy hasn't been on my mind.
I was actually talking to one of my managers where I work about my plans for the future, which lead to my passion for blogging, and, specifically, this blog.
When I told him that I was blogging here and what Breathing Happy is, he said, "But you don't know anything about smoking! You don't know what it's like to try to stop doing something like that."
And, he's right. I don't understand, but I have empathy for people who are trying to quit, and I can give advice based on research and what people I know who do, or have in the past smoked, tell me.
Here, in Kentucky, it's been super cold all day, and it wasn't until I started working on my laptop and bundled up on the couch that I actually felt truly warm.
While walking in the cold and wind between classes, I thought, "Smokers must be miserable right now…" If you quit smoking, one less thing that you'll have to worry about is having to stand outside in nasty weather to soothe your craving.
Besides that, the very fact that you have to go outside in some situations must get old.
In the city I live in, there was a law passed that made it to where all public places are smoke free. Now, I'm happy that I don't have to worry about secondhand smoke, but I have plenty of customers who are upset when they discover that we don't have a smoking section. This is understandable; I wouldn't want to stand outside because of my addictions.
So, if you quit smoking, you not only loose the annoyance of being forced outside of public places in some situations, you also don't have worry about having to stand in the cold, the snow, the rain, etc. to feed your addiction.
Take care and never give up.