My Fourteenth Day

Hi, everybody!
So now I've gone through 14 days of smoking.
I felt secure that I were through with smoking now.
But today, as I smelled somebody's smoke, it reminded me of that taste I used to crave so much. And I have to admit that I felt like smoking again for a second.
So my assumption that 2 weeks is not enough yet was right; I obviously still knew what the taste was like.
That's the trick: out of sight, out of mind.
If you get rid of something you don't need but you want for some reason, you'll be missing it at first, but after a while, you just forget about it.
For example, if you borrow a friend a video game, or a movie, or a CD you're already done with, you'll probably ask him to return it a few days later. If he says that he still needs it and would like to keep it for another while, you'll probably be mad at first, but you're probably much busier with a new game or CD so you just forget about it.
While in the example, forgetting about your belongings is not too good, forgetting about smoking is excellent.
Try to remember:
Did your parents/your guardians/those around you smoke when you were a kid?
Did you like the smell back then?
I just remember that when I was a kid I was occasionally exposed to smoke on family partys. I hated that smell.
Not convinced? Yeah, so you don't also love chocolate and Sesame Street above everything anymore.
Then remember when you smoked your first cigarette.
Did you enjoy it?
I'm pretty sure you didn't.
For myself, I remember when I smoked my first cigarette. Of course it was with a classmate who was like the most badass guy around.
I trembled while lighting it, hoping that by no coincidence my parents would be anywhere near.
Then I coughed.
Then that classmate explained to me how to smoke properly.
I guess a lot of people's smoking history starts in a similar fashion.
Getting a coke to get that weird taste out of my mouth was the first thing I did afterwards.
But still, I was compelled to do it again 3 days later.
And so it started, soon I started buying my own cigarettes and smoking on a daily basis, then also more than one a day.
At that point it was okay for me because I got to hang with all the cool kids and was being a "normal" youth, something that was hard for me in the past because we had to move every 3 years due to my dad's job, which meant I never had friends for long.
But now my friends are over 90% non-smokers, so it occurred to me that you can be a social person without smoking.
The whole moving thing taught me exactly that lesson though.
The first time we had to move, I was completely bummed that I wasn't going to see all my friends again. But after a while, I made new friends and I kind of lost sight of the old ones. I hardly remember any of the names.
The second time, it was easier to let go, also because a lot of other people left my former class.
I had learned that time doesn't stand still and that although we like to bathe in comforting memories, we should not grab hold of them too tight. We are moving further away from them every second and all we can do is find other ways to produce a similar comfort.
Also, those memories paint a false image: because one likes to remember the good moments in life, one tends to forget about the bad stuff in the past.
This means: the past wasn't as great as your imagination.
So if you smell smoke and think of the relaxing effect, try to remind yourself at the same time what bad it did you at the same time. So maybe you had moments of comfort, but what about shortness of breathing? Unhealthy appearance? Shaky hands? Maybe, if you've been smoking for a while, even impotence, cancer or amputation?
Time is moving on, and so should you.