It’s finally time for me to quit smoking. I’m using Lent as the stopping point. It feels natural to me. I have to give up something for Lent, and I have to quit my one-cigarette a day habit.
So. Here goes.
I know I can quit. It’s just a matter of getting through the physical addition. Mentally, I’m finally ready to stop making excuses (“It’s just one cigarette!” “I don’t smoke every night!” “I need something to help me relax!”)
I am a relatively intelligent person. Smoking cigarettes is not an intelligent thing to do.
With the extremely cold weather, I had already kicked the “end of every day” habit. I didn’t want to go outside in negative wind chills — or even temperatures under 30 degrees — to smoke. So I have been skipping one, two, three days. But then I would find myself looking ahead at the temperatures to see if it would be warm enough for me to smoke.
That was a big red flag. Like, I was planning it. “I can smoke again on Thursday because it’s going to be 25 degrees. That’s warm enough!”
Yeah. Problematic.
I also have to admit: Smoking doesn’t make my stress go away. The stress is there all the time. Smoking was a way to avoid it, say, “I’m not going to deal with today any more.” I can find something else to transition into the end of day, to bed. I don’t need a cigarette to read a book.
Speaking of reading, I am also going to try to read a little bit of the Bible each night. I think I’m going to start with the letters of John.
Are you doing anything for Lent? What’s your favorite fish fry?
Red Pen Mama 
Well, this year I’m going to a Bible book club every week, but I haven’t been too consistent about reading, so I’m going to read my Bible section every day instead of waiting till the last minute. And I really enjoyed the icon I painted last year, so after I get the quilt done that is covering my painting table I’m going to work on another icon. I have the board prepped and ready to go.
I’m trying to ADD stuff for lent. Prayers. We’re vegetarian so we don’t have fish. Going meatless is a daily thing for us. What’s really funny is last night I made lentil soup for dinner and didn’t realize the connection until we were eating it.
We are a mostly vegetarian family too. My brother, ever the jokester, used to tell me I should EAT meat on Friday during Lent.
The no-smoking thing is going well. I have yet to crack open my Bible.
Sweets is my old fall-back, and it was really hard getting through those first few days. I am also trying to snap less at the hubby and the kid. That has gone fair, at best. But I keep reminding myself that I have 40 days to do this.
Best of luck to you!