Yes, I quit!

It was a regular day. I woke up, freshened up, made a cup of tea. All good till now.As soon as I sat down to sip the tea, I lit up! Does this sound familiar?

Once upon a time I was in a similar boat, believe it or not.

This was around the time when I had published my first article on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/20141008102432-177574436-the-marriage-dilemma-catch-22

When I wrote that article I was still not officially divorced, only separated. After that I went through the divorce proceedings and got the final divorce decree! This whole incident sent me into a kind of PTDS (Getting divorce is traumatic). I was in denial and it was depressing, but there was nothing that could be done about it. I had to face the situation.

Like any person addicted to smoking would know, this period drove me to smoke more and more but the relief got lesser and lesser! All this was really stressful for my family, firstly because I was going through a bad situation and secondly I was making it worse by smoking like a chimney!

Eventually with time I accepted the situation. And with that I started hating smoking. I hated my dependence on it but it was a habit so I still smoked and felt guilty about it.

That is when I decided to QUIT- for real this time! (As all smokers out there know every person who smokes can tell you how many times they have quit smoking for so many months)

Many smokers have this delusion that they have to go through hell on earth to quit smoking. You do not have to when you understand what you are dealing with.

I planned for it meticulously. I went through all the information available in the Public Health space with regards to smoking cessation. I studied what to expect from myself and how I should prepare people around me as to the changes that might happen to me. On a lighter note, even people who didn't know I smoked came to know that Iwas going to quit :)

Well after studying all the materials and all the videos and blogs for a week, I quit. Looking back it seems easy but at that time it was the most difficult thing for me to do!

I will leave my journey of quitting for another article but only after 1 year of being smoke free I was confident that I will not go back to that one puff.......

Now its been 6 years of being smoke free and its difficult to believe I smoked once upon a time.

“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”- Tony Robbins

Please decide to quit while you are in control, don't let the circumstances force you into it!

I am inviting my LinkedIn family to share their experiences. And if any of you really want to quit and need encouragement/ help, feel free to comment/ message me. I will be glad if I can help another person with their journey through quitting smoking.

Yes, I quit. Did you decide yet?