Do You Puff or Drag

So, here it is; a pack and a half down with another pack and a half to go.
The countdown is nearing its completion.

I hear some strange orchestrated music in the background, like something out of an old "scary" movie where you get that sense that danger is lurking.
I guess better to hear that music now as I embark on my journey of freedom and cleanliness rather than hearing it play as I lye on my bed gasping for air.

As each cigarette disappears, I think about the nervousness that will endure as the nicotine slowly passes through my body. I think about the habits being broken as I yearn for just "one more" drag.
I am getting apprehensive about this whole thing already.
Time to get mentally tough, I guess. It is time to get ready to count those days as they pass so impressive milestones can be shared with friends, family and strangers alike.

I am hoping though, more than anything, that I do not become one of those ex-smokers that ramble on about their experiences with the habit.
I smoked for twelve years before I quit. I used to smoke more than a pack a day then one day I just quit. Cold turkey! I didn't need no damn patch or pills, I just stopped. Ya'know, you should really quit those, they will kill ya.

That is what I fear the most for the reason that I can see myself doing that. I have this feeling that I will start with the preaching about two weeks after I completely stop.
I love to spread my wisdom upon ignorant smokers who believe that life will go on forever because they had family members that smoked and drank all their lives and they lived well into their eighties. (No offense Donn)

I will tell them about my uncle who once had a collapsed lung, or about my other uncle that is on an iron lung. I will share my experiences and preach the good word until they throw back at my face the fact that I smoked for several years with the knowledge and first hand experience of the effects of smoking.
But hey, I learned. Better late than never.

Another thing I do not want to become is the fat ex-smoker.
Oh, how I dream to keep my girlie figure and size thirty-three waist; or at least lose my figure when middle age spread kicks in as my metabolism dwindles down to nothing.
That is another thing though, I can see myself getting fat too.
Oh why oh why must I be so mentally weak?
Why must it be when one bad habit is lost, another must rear its ugly head and cause yet another resolution to proprieties.

Well, here is to, about, another four days of a smokers life.
Like I said, the countdown is continuing and seems to be getting faster as the weekend approaches.

I just remember a quote by Fletcher Knebel.
He said, "Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics".

Well, I don't want to become a statistic.
Hell, I never wanted to become a quitter either, because we all know quitters never prosper.

But, I guess, one of those wants needs to remain unfulfilled. I guess I will take the latter.