I just got through my first 24 hours last night. I always saw myself as a "mind over matter" type guy. Anything less than that is a weakness. I am finding out that I am not so tough after all. Hanging in there however with the weird side-effects (i.e. racing heart, being drifty, hunger pangs). In a perverse way it's almost educational to me. I quit smoking in 1975 and switched over to the can. I am now 65 and was doing a can every two and a half days until my quit. I have heard people talk about the similarities of heroin and nicotine. I can't respond to the former, but I know like with any drug of choice, it knows no socio-economic or education boundaries. I really don't know if I can win this battle. Nobody suggested that I quit, nor was I having any health problems that forced the issue. It was just something I needed to do if for nothing else, for me. I might make it and if I falter I will try-try again. As one of my mentors told me, "Anything worth having is worth working hard for to obtain." You can apply that to just about anything - even addiction. Those of us who are in the struggle, I wish good fortune to one and all. We need to keep our minds busy and know that there are those who have come before us. Although we may all be strangers miles apart, we are a kindred spirit. God speed.
