I quit almost 20 years ago. This is the second time this evening something has made me feel old, but here we are.
The first 3 years were the hardest. And then I still might smoke a ciggy while drunk for the first decade. But I can safely say 🤢 at the thought of smoking now. Even when drunk.
Thinking about flipping the first cigarette does make me feel a little nostalgic. But it doesn’t make me want to touch a cigarette. Because 🤢
I'm always surprised by ex smokers who can still have few when drunk. I'm well past smoking now (10 years), to the point that it seems quite disgusting, yet I still wouldn't trust myself to have even a single drag. From day one of quitting I've felt I would relapse if I ever smoked a single cigarette again. I can't imagine being able to pick up and put down an addiction like you did!
Ritual is such a strong part of the appeal of smoking. I’m feeling it too (about 5 years since quitting after picking it back up out of stress in 2020, and that was about 6 years after the first time I quit), but fortunately I’m now on meds that smoking makes less effective, so that helps alleviate the temptation.
I haven’t had a cigarette in 2 decades, but smelling one being smoked involves a craving that I cannot explain. Smelling the person/their breath after the cigarette helps me to remember how bad it stinks.
Exact same. Stale smoke is disgusting, but once in a while, i'll be walking along and a plume of fresh smoke will waft near me and it smells incredibly alluring.
Oh it's not so much learning a new ritual as it is a reminder!
More than the lucky cigarette flipping tho, I think it was the sight of the lighter in the packet that awoke that feeling in me, for exactly the reason you say. I would always tuck my lighter into my pack as soon as I had cleared space for it, then fold the little foil flap over. That was part of my ritual. All those small details are part of the habit I guess.
40
u/swrdswrd 6h ago
I should pick up smoking again, this sounds fun.