When to quit.... It's a good question.

 November 12th, I'll make 2 years sober. In November 2022, just shortly after Katie and I had gotten married, I had decided it was in both mine and her best interest for me to quit drinking. Katie was starting to believe that I was an alcoholic but I didn't want to believe it for myself. I had abruptly quit... I didn't tell her or really anyone else for that matter. A person i met at the bar who had been in AA for nearly 20 years indicated that he would go to a meeting for me. We went... and the story from the person making 1 year had really struck a nerve. A man who nearly lost everything until he quit drinking and got his life together. The story nearly brought me to tears. On the way out... when walking back to my car the friend who had brought me told me that if i drink again... the "Guilt" would get to me. Since then... I've only had two beers. One was about 6 months in where i was out listening to music and the bar tender had given me a drink by accident. and the second one was about 1 1/4 years in where the same thing had happened. What this ultimately tells me is that the person to blame was myself. A busy bartender wouldn't think twice about getting anyone a drink.... so the fact that i was served one isn't surprising. The fact that i didn't immediately relapse is a good thing on my part. Because some men and women do.... those nights could have been a relapse into a bender which could have destroyed my marriage and ruined my life.


The reason I bring this up is because I'd like to quit smoking before the end of the year. The nicotine replacement therapy (Patch) that i bought recently (Highly recommend buying on Amazon rather than anything else) is a 56 day program. 4 weeks on step 1, 2 weeks on step 2, and 3 weeks on step 3. In order for me to quit smoking by the end of the year... I'll have to commit to the treatment program by November 5th. Seems fitting that election day would be cut off point if i want to be Nicotine Free before 2025. Personally... I'd like to start sooner. And I'm thinking that Sunday, October 20th would be a good day to start. This way Weeks can be measured appropriately (Sunday - Saturday)... and they always recommend picking a day only a few days ahead to start. If i do successfully quit smoking... then i'll be saving roughly $14.50 per day... that multiplied over 7 days is $101.50 per week or about $812.00 over the course of the 8 week program. It seems like a no brainer to quit smoking when you figure that 8 weeks is going to cost you nearly $812 dollars for a vice that is no longer enjoyable. Hell... for $812 dollars i could go on vacation... or better still... buy a new computer. 


So.... that's the goal... formulated just now while writing this. Quit smoking firm start date on October 20th.... 8 Week program.... Completed on December 14th. I'll post progress as time goes on.

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