smoking has nothing to do with looking cool these days. It has everything to do with nicotine passing through the BBB promoting the production of dopamine and lots of other chemical awesomeness.
It sucks that it also causes cancer. I quit because of <----- but I miss being able to go outside while stressed out, stare at the sky, and enjoy the effects of nicotine.
I'm hoping that eventually I'll just forget about the pleasurable effects of smoking and stop craving it when stressed, upset, or angry. I'm not going to substitute it for another substance though because:
A) Almost all substitutes are illegal and I don't do drugs (never have).
and
B) Alcohol is legal, but I barely ever drink because my pancreas can't handle that many carbohydrates. I've only probably had 1 or 2 scotch on the rocks since the beginning of the year and no other forms of alcohol (except for if Listerine has alcohol, but I don't swallow obviously).
and
C) Harm-free nicotine substitutes exist, but I think you'd have to be a billionaire to use them permanently, and ultimately the goal is to become disciplined, not to let my body control me.
The trouble is that I really want to quit, and have been good about it so far, but I miss it enough that I even have had dreams with me smoking, and then getting upset that I failed myself by giving in, only to wake up and realize that I haven't actually had a cigarette. I've had that dream 4-5 times so far.
