NtT - I Missed a Milestone

I know I said I was going to try to put some humor into tonight’s post but that may have to wait until my next post because I missed an important event. I totally cannot believe that I forgot my two-week mark of not smoking. You know why I missed it? I missed it because it was Sunday; Mother’s Day was two weeks since I quit smoking and I wasn’t having a good day. I posted that night about not liking holidays and missed a milestone in my smoking cessation goal. So that would make today two weeks and two days that I quit. That’s not too bad, eh? I was wondering, though, just a second ago, when I officially become a non-smoker after giving up cigarettes. I even stopped typing so I could Google it.

I Googled “When do I officially become a non-smoker” and dozens of websites popped up for me to view. Problem is that none of them gave a real answer. Some said I’m a non-smoker the minute I give up cigarettes; another said I’m a non-smoker when I, and I alone, know I’ve kicked the habit; still others said different things. Can’t anyone just answer a question anymore? That’s the way it’s supposed to work, right: ask a question, get an answer? Not these days; the Internet offers so many answers that we have to be really specific with our questions in order to narrow down the results. Good grief.

The reason I’m wondering is because I’d like to change the information on my web pages (Myspace, Facebook, etc.) to “non-smoker” but I’m not sure that I am a non-smoker just yet. How much time has to pass? If I say I’m now a non-smoker to someone, and that person asks when I quit and I say “two weeks ago,” will he or she tell me that I’m not really a non-smoker until six months has passed? Or a year? Or was it safe to say that I was a non-smoker when I put out that last cigarette? Does any of this apply, or am I still trying to quit? How do I know? This is all so confusing.

If I’m considered “still trying to quit,” how do I know when I’ve actually quit? I don’t get a diploma or anything after a certain amount of time has elapsed; there is no test to take, I don’t think. Maybe there is. Maybe I have to sit in a room full of smokers for a few hours, listening to their sob stories, and having fake stress put on me to see if I can last a few hours without bumming a smoke. Maybe that’s when I get my diploma. But who gives it? Where do I go to apply for the test? Will it cost money? Can I retake it after a certain amount of time if I fail the first time? If so, how much time? Not that I’m planning on failing the test because I know I could pass it, I’m just curious. I don’t even know if I have to take a test. I’m pretty sure I don’t, or I’d have heard about it from the quit coaches from the QuitLine that I spoke to within the first week of trying to quit. They tried to call again last week but I didn’t call them back for reasons mentioned in another post. My mom always told me not to talk to strangers so I’ll let them help those quitters who really need it.

I’m doing fine here with my non-smoking attempt so I don’t really feel like I need any outside help. Ellen helped me through the last issue I had, and my issues are coming up less and less so I’m pretty sure I’ve got this under control. Since I can’t find out what the actual timeframe for quitting is to be considered a non-smoker, I’m going to set my own and say that, since I’ve passed the two-week mark, I’m now officially a non-smoker and I’m going to change the information on my web pages that need to be changed.

If the non-smoking police don’t like it, well then, they’ll just have to come here and talk to me about it personally. Until they do, though, I’m going to stick with the two weeks. Sucks for them. I think my issue now is eating, and trying to lose that extra weight I gained over the winter. I was doing really great (eating healthy and exercising) for a while, but for the past two days I’ve totally let it fall to the wayside. I eat because I’m bored so if anyone has any suggestions of things for me to do during the day so I’m not just sitting here staring at the contents of my fridge, I’d really appreciate them. Thanks. For now, though, I’m outta here. Until tomorrow…peace to all.