I’ve been smoking for a long time now. There have been time when I’ve smoked happily without a thought of giving up, times when I’ve vaguely considered giving up, and times when I’ve really, really wanted to quit. Right now I’m there at the latter. I really, really want to stop smoking at this moment in time.
The problem is I’ve been here before. Plenty of times in fact. I’ve tried pretty much everything out there at some point. Just stopping and counting the days, patches, e-cigarettes, gum, the list goes on. And none of them have worked obviously. I’m still on a twenty a day habit on average, sometimes more, sometimes less.
This time around though I’ve stumbled upon a new technique – blogging. Breathing Happy to be precise. I found the site a few weeks ago playing around on Google looking for new ideas on how to stop and though why not? I’m not a writer but I can string a few coherent sentences together I think.
I’ve spent time over recent days reading through the posts on the site and I like the vibe. I like the look of the people who post and the way that comments on what people write are positive and supportive. It feels like a community that helps each other and I guess that’s the sort of thing I’m looking for.
I suppose blogging is quite an anonymous way of sharing thoughts and views with other people. I have been along to a quit-smoking group in the past but felt uncomfortable opening up and talking to strangers about wanting to stop doing something. I’m wondering whether blogging will offer an opportunity to be more honest with myself and others about my smoking and whether I really have the motivation to stop. We’ll see.
It feels like jumping into the deep end sitting here and writing my first post. I hope that I’ll be welcomed into the Breathing Happy community and I hope that I’ll be able to make some valid contributions. I’m planning to write some personal posts and some a bit more impersonal and informative as I get my feet under the table. Hey, I even hope that I’ll earn a few dollars with a top post one day! I look forward to getting to know you all…
*Image courtesy Flickr creative commons.