Hello! My dear friends of Emotions&Feelings I hope you are well and that we can continue sharing in this wonderful community. WOW! I think this is my first post of this year pro here, and although I've been keeping an eye on you, I apologise because I've been busy, but always putting into practice everything I've learned here and recognizing the emotions that surround me and acting based on them. So, today I come to tell you a story of how something already catalogued as an addiction, I can give testimony and faith that you can get out of it by recognising the problem and acting based on the positive consequences that we can have in our lives and those around us.

The smoking habit

I started smoking in my youth; as a fashion, acceptance in the youth group, status, freedom, independence, look, I can justify it with many actions but in reality it was something typical of my age and always wanting to go against the social rules (as a good adolescent growing up). Obviously, this was protected and endorsed by the friends that surrounded me and the places I visited, since at that time smoking was still allowed in enclosed places, so it was common for me to "flaunt" my bad habit on any occasion. And I recognise it today as bad because it left nothing valuable or positive in my life. Of course, the campaign against smoking has always existed, but that didn't stop me from buying or smoking; on the contrary, I liked to try different flavours, brands, even countries to compare taste, smell, sensation, duration... It really is a life! and above all a lifestyle for those who enter this world. So if there is a person who smokes, don't think that campaigns or telling them "don't do it" will do the trick.

Imagen de Joe en Pixabay

Siempre fui optimista, nunca dude de mi capacidad de autocontrol y me felicito todos los días porque mi decisión me llevó a mejorar mi calidad de vida y la de los mios. Al principio tuve miedo porque como toda adicción, pensé que podía recaer pero ¡Que va! hasta el día de hoy, he prendido cigarrillos, me rodeo de personas que fuman, podemos estar en el mismo lugar y ni por curiosidad o "uno solo no pasa nada" vuelvo a caer en ese vicio.

What happened in me to make such a drastic decision to say NO MORE? I can tell you that I didn't plan it or even think about it because, as I said, it didn't affect my social or personal life, much less my finances (at least that's what I thought), but in December 2015 I started to have a cough with phlegm. Those days I was trying not to smoke because it could make me worse. But what I noticed was: I could be having a conversation with you and I had the need and the sensation of spitting, expectorating, gargling, salivating, or as it is commonly known spitting. There I recognised that it was not a product of the cough or the process I was going through, it was a product of the cigarette lodged in my throat and that I already had it as an OCD that was speaking and unconsciously I had to do it.

Disgust! is the word that best defines what I felt for myself at that moment; another feeling was pity because for how long had it been going on, would this behaviour be normal, if a guy liked me, would he want to kiss me with this bad habit? Yes, I had to ask myself all that, to question myself in order to take action. I tell you that my process was fast; overnight I didn't buy any more cigarette packs, because I didn't feel the need or anxiety to have one because I was busy with other things. Nor was it necessary to replace it with a sweet because, thank God, I don't eat sweets, so I didn't go through the process of abstinence.

What was my driving force? Optimism, because in less than a week I started to see the changes like the smell in my clothes, in my hands and in my mouth. That kept me with the goal intact! so that I didn't lose my goal. Physical changes also started to show up like fatigue, tiredness when talking and the best I STOP SPITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION! No matter how long it lasted💯. I was always optimistic,b> I never doubted my capacity for self-control and I congratulate myself every day because my decision led me to improve my quality of life and that of my loved ones. At first I was afraid because like any addiction, I thought I could relapse, but no way! To this day, I have lit cigarettes, I surround myself with people who smoke, we can be in the same place and not even out of curiosity or "it's OK" I don't fall back into this vice. Fortunately, after my decision the smoking industry has been attacked by price increases, the poor quality of cigarettes nowadays and the campaign that it cannot be consumed everywhere, except in enclosed spaces, so for me it was a special time but I do not consider that it will come back in my life.

Hasta nuestro próximo encuentro

Thank you for my reading, and although it is a health issue, the emotions and feelings that do not dominate at that moment will be decisive to be able to emerge victorious from that situation that presents itself to us. Let's be optimistic, let's see the world through the lens of positivism and believe me that the processes will be much easier 😉. I edited the cover in Canvas as well as the Banner. The divider is from FotoJet. Until our next meeting