I started smoking when I was 33 years old. From what I've been told if you make it to 30 and haven't started smoking the odds are you won't ever take up smoking. I quess you could say that I beat those odds. I started smoking because I had a drinking problem, and I reasoned within my mind that if I started smoking maybe I would drink less. That didn't work, it just gave me something to do while I drank.

Now I had two addictions to try to recover from. I was able to kick the drinking when the first of my two sons arrived. I didn't want his life to be scarred from my abuse of alcohol. However, I still have the addiction to nicotine. Every pack that I buy is going to be my last. And every time that pack is gone, I find a reason to buy "just one more pack." This little game has been going on for a couple of years now.

Every now and then, half way through a pack of cigarettes, I get frustrated with my weakness and want to throw them away. But I fear that I will break down and buy another pack and those that I discarded would have been wasted.

If anyone wants to join me in this commitment to quit or has words of encouragement or otherwise, I welcome your comments. I will try to post often to detail my progress.