I understand where you’re comin from. I remember many a cigarette being the “best cigarette of my life.” Don’t take this as a “jump on the bandwagon” post. I don’t want to rub it in, but I want to celebrate my 6th month quitting anniversary by writing a post about pros and cons as I remember them. GO ME! It was tough, I’ll tell you. But it is do-able. If I could quit, anybody could. Write a comment if you need some advice. 

Pros of smoking (as a recall): 

• relieves the need to have a cigarette
• tastes good
• feels good
• looks sexy
• gives your hand something to do 
• gives your mouth something to do (i’m not addicted- my mouth is just bored!)
• no withdrawal!
• gives you a moment to take a break and contemplate things
• alone time
• speeds metabolism and helps lose weight/keep weight off
• helps you concentrate

Cons:

• After-shower smell is gone as soon as you have that after-shower cigarette
• smoke in the eyes
• burn holes on clothes
• hair smells
• breath smells
• get out of breath doing simple things
• COUGH!
• man voice (in women).
• scratchy voice
• clear your throat before you talk
• “Shit, I only have 2 cigarettes left for the night and no money…”
• “Shit, where’s my lighter?”
• “Can I please please please bum a smoke!! I’ll hit you back!”
• feeling isolated 
• not being allowed anywhere inside with your filthy habit
• people looking at you negatively… especially little kids.. and knowing they’re right
• those black lung photos
• strep throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. 
• MONEY! (I have saved over 1,000 dollars in 6 months and counting)
• watching the clock
• dropping your cigarette while driving… SHIT!!!!
• worrying about your next pack
• driving/walking/biking in the snow at 3 a.m. for a pack
• prices going up and up…
• worrying about a quit date
• being controlled by a drug instead of yourself
• worrying about stretches of work, long movies, plane rides, etc. 
• needing to take a break during important things or fun things like poker games. 
• yellow teeth
• yellow fingers
• hating cigarettes and smoking and yourself for losing power. 
• worrying about blowing smoke in people’s faces
• feeling guilty about all those butts on the ground
• feeling guilty about your non-smoker friends getting smoke in their faces. 
• dealing with gross ashtrays. 
• feeling gross when you see a garbage full of empty cigarette packs
• Smoking a half-cigarette that is a day old. 

I could probably go on and on. When I quit (exactly) 6 months ago, I made a pro/con list. I wanted so badly to find that I had much more pros than cons. If I did, there would be no point in quitting, now would there? Well, I was disappointed when I could only come up with a few pros and a seemingly endless amount of cons. Just something to think about, especially since the economy in changing and shit’s getting pricey. I still have moments where I feel like I should be having a cigarette, and I’m still a smoker at heart. But I definitely feel proud for being an ex-smoker! The point of writing this post is basically to reinforce to myself that I am making the write decision. It definitely helped!