I am a criminal

[Ray]

Perhaps this public confession will help us all toward a path of health and true happiness. I haven't broken any laws - so all you NSA grad students can just calm down right now. My crime is of the same nature as yours - perfectly legal and of the most insidious nature - for I am a smoker.

Before the rest of you jump to conclusions, relax - you won't hear me lament about second hand smoke 'cause I use a commercial air filter to completely remove it. Nor will I whine about the health of the body which writes these words. My concern is for the waste, the heart breaking astronomical waste of potential good that I have contributed to.

Ten US dollars a day. Three thousand five hundred something per year...or whatever... can you imagine the human benefit that money could have provided to anyone anywhere in the world?

But no... I had to smoke it. I know cigarettes are full of dangerous chemicals and produced by an evil, megalithic corporation controlled by sociopathic elite families, but yet I still CHOOSE to give them my ten dollars every single day. What is wrong with me?

If a homeless person asks me for one I won't even consider it, they're so expensive. Were I to find myself without these 'neat little soldiers of death' I would consider myself to be suffering. Is this what being insane is?

I am so pathetically self centered that I suffer, indeed I invite illness and pain ( I pay dearly for it!) with my hard earned money rather than help any fellow with it! I would literally be better off (more healthy) burning a ten dollar bill every day! Of course I would never do THAT! THAT would be insane!

And of course I would NEVER consider giving YOU ten dollars every day! Nor you!Nor you! THAT too would be insane! No, I must exchange the money with McSatanCorp for twenty little white sticks, set them aflame and suck the smoke out of them one at a time. After all, it's MY money, right?

If that's not criminal, I don't know what is.

peace

[Snowflower]

Good definition of addiction, Ray. I know because I am a sugaholic. Same trouble, different poison.

[Sidney]

Hi Ray, Wecome to Avalon!!!!! Interesting post. I won't riddle you with ways to quit, I am sure you already know them all. So All I can say, is I forgive you. And you can forgive yourself. We are humans, which allows us to be imperfect. When the time is right, you will know when to give them up.

[joeecho]

Ray, it's not as big a deal as your mind makes it out to be.

Go easy on yourself.

All is well.

[GuyFox]

Give it up.
If you want to beat the McSatans, and MonSatans of the world - you need to stop giving them your business

[enfoldedblue]

Hi Ray, I smoked on and off for many years and like you one of my concerns was supporting the evil corporations that make their money off addictions. In the end I found an organic tobacco that I felt somewhat better about smoking. I actually found it easier to quit from the organic tobacco probably because less addictive chemicals involved. at first it was a bit hard to shift to the organic tobacco as it wasn't what I was used to, but like most things I did get used to it...and ended up preferring it.

I finally let go for good just before I got pregnant. Pregnancy was the best incentive to keep me from going back...unfortunately that is probably not very useful info for you ...lol

Thanks for sharing

[Ray]

Ah my gracious friends! Thank you all for the kind words, but I fear my black heart is the root of all evil. The actual burning of energy, money, life, whatever it IS must surely be the greatest sin against my fellows, most of whom are in greater NEED than I.

joeecho - it is that very other in your sig line I'm concerned with! That which I deny in favor of self! Shame on me! At least give me a chance... I'm just waking up...
snowflower - hopefully you don't have to live with the guilt of wasting an amount that could have probably built a high school in Africa on sweets....
sydney - I truly thank you for such kind and gentle words. They are well received yet, I believe discrimination is supremely important wherever forgiveness is considered.

[Tesseract]

We all have our vices, no need to be ashamed. We all waste a little money on unnecessary things.. that said, I sometimes think about it in the way you have described too. Personally, the thought of becoming addicted to a substance terrifies me, which is why I don't smoke. I hope you achieve the mental snap that allows you to quite cold Turkey, if that's what you want. And welcome to Avalon btw.

[joeecho]

Ah my gracious friends! Thank you all for the kind words, but I fear my black heart is the root of all evil. The actual burning of energy, money, life, whatever it IS must surely be the greatest sin against my fellows, most of whom are in greater NEED than I.

joeecho - it is that very other in your sig line I'm concerned with! That which I deny in favor of self! Shame on me! At least give me a chance... I'm just waking up...
snowflower - hopefully you don't have to live with the guilt of wasting an amount that could have probably built a high school in Africa on sweets....
sydney - I truly thank you for such kind and gentle words. They are well received yet, I believe discrimination is supremely important wherever forgiveness is considered.

The 'other/ addiction' is like quicksand that you are entitled to struggle with as long and as often as you wish to or you can let it pass by like the blink of an eye.

Everyone and everything has it's 'obstacles' but they are not what they appear to be.


But maybe all you need to hear is the same old song and dance routine for addictions. That road is well marked.

I wish you well either way my friend.

P.s. "the forgotten recitation", are you referring to the serpent of old?

[Ray]

Thanks 'blue for the encouragement, but it's clear you all think waaaaay too much of me. I could stop smoking tomorrow and still wouldn't give YOU ten dollars a day for the rest of my life. Not even if your precious child needed some special medicine to live. I have a home full of plants which I care for generously, a Bassett hound sleeping on my lap and tears in my eyes as I write this but it's true. These are MINE...those are YOURS...

Such behavior is not human. It does not warrant sympathy or compassion or forgiveness.

It demands change

[enfoldedblue]

So I'm curious...what exactly are looking for through this thread?

[Nine]

Dearest Ray,

I respect your total honesty here...

However, is this not a symptom of our culture of lack or scarcity?

In a world of abundance would such need for addiction be necessary?

Addiction it seems to me comes from somewhere else other than your humanity...as it were....


I don't believe that the humble tobacco plant is evil but maybe our controllers added many things to it.....maybe?

And in our slave society based on scarcity one needs a stimulant to survive to work and work and work for what?

You are not the criminal but however, many criminals are in charge of many things in this world.....

To use tobacco or not is a choice and it depends upon what one wants to do in life....

For many activities in life like for an athlete the use of tobacco is a negative and for some who are social a great cigar with a great brandy in moderation brings great pleasure and so it is what one wants to do with ones own life....

And so I would say to you what in this life do you want to do? Does tobacco help or hinder that pursuit?

Thanks for your post....


Nine

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

Dear Ray: ROLL YOUR OWN :) I think it's cheaper! Not necessarily tastier, but MAYBE -- maybe there is hope?
Maybe if you had more cigarettes with you, it would be less stressful. RYO = less money per cigarette.
That ten dollars will get you much farther with a red roller and sack of tobacco.


My family grew tobacco. I worked in it as a child -- not every step, but most of them. It's very hard work,
for what amounts to very little money in the long run, considering the hours of labor and many steps to the process.

I read somewhere that the Native Americans some genes for Schizophrenia, and that nicotine helps keep that in check.
Could be wrong -- but did you notice the "nervous types" who always have a cigarette? Like the piano player, what's his name -- David Helfgott.
SHINE -- that movie, you saw it? He is literally ALWAYS smoking if there is a free hand to do so.
In one scene of the film, he is holding a cig in one hand and playing the flight of the bumblebee with the other.




So like the others said, don't judge yourself too harshly.
But don't be like me and just ignore your morals either.



Quitting booze was one of the easiest and best things I ever did for myself.
I miss it a lot and would benefit from an occasional drink. But for me, one is never enough--
and for many cig smokers one is not enough.


Although it's not my place to recommend psychedelics, I would say considering it's the cancer cure,
you might think about growing your own, too -- but not tobacco. Something more exciting.

*shrug* Who knows? :)

[Georgesdragon]

Ray, I`m sure you well on the way to taking control back as you recognize there is something not right, don`t be a slave to your habits, you are the master of yourself. I too was easily fooled into smoking for quite a number of years, I even thought I enjoyed it , DOH..... That dragon is now slain, dead and buried along with the stench....
I also like joeechos` rhyme above its worthy of sharing.

[Lifebringer]

I'm wanna get real honest here about the same addiction conversation being discussed, but there is still a few with bias here in the lower vibratory. One day I promise to share, it's just that when new people come, the family expands, and the check double check before posting/cautious speech of my experiences, comes. This is to be expected, I'm not so selfish as to only want to talk to those I trust now, when others may need what I have to say. I'll just put the words "survivor of all that was bad" and chalk it up to the need to communicate this experience in the immediate community that needs it so desperately, in the other circles for now. Any addiction of anything is always the hell they fall into when the greed for more and more and more, takes over all common sense or sensibility. I still smoke, I can't afford the electronics regularly to ease the nicotine off, and my teeth are so in need of repair, if I chew the gum, I'd be pulling it out between the fillings. LOL Thanks healthcare for disabled seniors under 65. If you're not a kid, all dental must be a separate bill. 20 years, but baking soda and peroxide do okay w/me.

I'm just going through some stuff right now, that makes quitting inconvenient, as the stress of piled up bills by a spouse for the umpteenth time, is causing a separation so he can pay bills once again by himself for a year, and learn to live w/in his means. He's addicted to having at least 20 or 25 dollars in his pocket a day. He used to be a pizza driver, and the tips per day, have him juggling monthly expenses w/his better half accountant wife, just sitting on the side lines, as he swishes his credit, my credit, our money, down the debt toilet to tie us into 1 place to live w/no vacation after raising 9 children and putting them in college, now he wants to get frivolous. Ahhhhhhhh!

I'm older by a couple years, and am kicking myself in the mind for seeing it going on, and not being able to stop it, because unfortunately, "he's not the type to discuss money w/women. Ahhhhhhhhh.....again.


Phew.. that felt good to purge, I've decided to kick him out until I can get my bills back down and a trial in this marriage, of "who we really are" as a spouse. Debt isn't sexy and I'm over 50, so he's really pushing his luck and the wrong buttons if he wants to get intimate. That's another addiction of his/middle age male reliving. There in lies a problem that I can't seem to get him to understand. I can't say I love someone that hurts me financially, because the disciplined accountant on a fixed income refuses to. That's not ego after 14 years and only one vacation, it's a "survival mechanism" to regain my security and independence, where I'm just not stuck. You know I've never asked this guy for a dime during our marriage, and now it seems he's always "not asking but taking" because the bills must be paid in my name, and there's no extra to bury me, AGAIN. Ahhhhhhhhhhh..... wooooossssssssssssaaaaaaaahhhhh...wooooossssaaaahhhhh.....

I'll continue to keep telling myself that addiction was the worst, but my cigarettes are keeping me from "tasing his greedy self-centered ego-arrogant" 7 lower back deteriorating sciatic nerve foot dragging funky breath a**! Where's the ego to fix them teeth so I can kiss you in love? HA! I could go on, and I will at some other time. I will share as deeply about the "survival of addiction" soon.

As you can see, I'm a little busy right now regaining my dignity in my marriage. I have a caveman, I call him my "gorilla" he was my protector, but he got greedy and took advantage. I'm awake and didn't tell him I was for a few years, to see what was going on and observing how much I lost of myself. I love service to others, but there are others that don't just "TAKE" advantage.:wizard:

My smokes are a crutch and somebody's elses savior. As a carpenter and construction contractor for house framing/disabled now due to other trades obtained that were hard on a woman, a lot of bosses could have got tossed off a roof for playing with my money, if you know what I mean. He's like one of the "bosses" when it comes to "our" income.:sad:

What's with the 10 bucks stuff I pay 3.14. not name brand, but a coffin nail is a coffin nail.:rockon::ohwell:

[truth4me]

Thanks 'blue for the encouragement, but it's clear you all think waaaaay too much of me. I could stop smoking tomorrow and still wouldn't give YOU ten dollars a day for the rest of my life. Not even if your precious child needed some special medicine to live. I have a home full of plants which I care for generously, a Bassett hound sleeping on my lap and tears in my eyes as I write this but it's true. These are MINE...those are YOURS...

Such behavior is not human. It does not warrant sympathy or compassion or forgiveness.

It demands changewell if you feel it demands change then YOU change........

[mosquito]

Ray - Try looking at it another way. I don't know this for a fact about the USA, but in the UK, most of the cost of your habit would go to ... THE GOVERNMENT. So in my far-from-humble opinion, the CRIME, is that these bastards in suits don't use all that tax money for the good of humanity as a whole, or at the very least the people they are elected to serve. (Oops sorry, made myself fall off the chair in fits of laughter there.)

Go easy on yourself. I give myself permission to smoke when I want to (and YES Tesla, rolled cigs taste orders of magnitude better than the cardboard-tipped chemicals) and not smoke when I don't want to. That goes for all my other oh-so-human vices too.

[sirdipswitch]

Bah hum bug. I smoke cuz I like it, and it helps keep the Lizards away. You can chalk it all up to brain washing and control. Reptillians are highly allergic to tobbaco. And we, were messin up the food supply. Parents smokin even "taints" the "flavor" of the kids, so they can't eat them either. Make everyone quit smokin, and the Lizards have more to eat. Yep, you hear a bunch of firsts, on this forum.
chuckle chuckle chuckle.:wizard:

[ulli]

Addiction is rampant everywhere because we are not educated early in life about how the instinctive part of us functions.
The mind is always weaker than emotions, and emotions are weaker than instinct.
And instinct is vulnerable to interrdimensional influences.

Only when this is properly understood can one make an assessment of how the enemy operates,
and use the mind to build a strategy to get out of absurd or unwanted behavior patterns.

The first thing is to find out what is still out there that we can get passionate about,
and let that vision seep into our being, via the top.
Then the bad habits which stem from the lower chakras can gradually drop away by themselves,
having been replaced by new habits which actually assist in finding our place in life.
So shedding old unwanted habits is like a snake shedding its skin.

I quit smoking when I got pregnant, 35 years ago. Started again ten years later,
but this time I made a study of the inner voices that prompted me to light up.
Started really zooming in on those voices at the check-out counter of the shop where I bought the cigarettes,
and got extra strength at those moments. Stopped buying.

Then all that was left was not accepting one from my smoker friends.
In the end I decided the easiest route was to just drop those friendships. It worked.
And guess what...it was worth it.
I would feel like sh!t today if I was still smoking.
Now I still have hardly any physical habits that have me feeling miserable
The battles continue, but more on an emotional and intellectual plane.
To do mainly with overcoming fears, and developing courage, with overcoming inertia,
and acting on inspiration, intuition, rather than instinctive impulses.

[WhiteFeather]

No Crime Here Ray: Tobacco is a very sacred plant to the native indian tribe. But if i may,,,,,Try and see if you can utilize a pipe instead of cigarettes.
This worked for me as an awesome pacifier, as it helped me to quit smoking cigarettes altogether since last September. I'm saving over $300 dollars a month and still smoking. Im enjoying smoking more than ever now. Many people i come across love the aroma too. Pipe tobacco is much better to smoke than cigs IMO and much, much, cheaper. I get 9 oz of Virginia Gold Pipe Tobacco (Choice of Vanilla, Black and Gold, Cherry, Cavendish etc.) for just 12 bucks. It lasts me almost 3 weeks. Some great aromas too i may ad. It worked for me to get over that edge.

PS: You can also grow your own tobacco, to really save. You can purchase tobacco seeds anywhere on the internet.

[RunningDeer]

Without warning, lifelong habits end on a dime. This has happened for the last couple of years. The most recent was coffee and sugar this past December, 2013.

I stopped a 40+ year, 8-10 cups coffee a day habit. Twice, in the past, I’d gone to the hospital for dermoral shots because of migraines from caffeine withdrawals. What was different this time was I had an inner knowing that said, “it’s time”. So, I poured a freshly brewed pot of coffee down the drain.

I donated my “when the grid goes down and the supermarkets are boarded up” stash; five big tubs of coffee, the two back-up electric coffee pots, the non-electric coffee pots, one cups makers, and the other paraphernalia.

Some other surprise bonuses...it created a lot of new space. And restful sleep, and cool dreams. The sugar habit just happen to go along with no caffeine. I didn’t use it in my coffee. I decided not to question it.

Along with continued steps to raise my frequency, it’s an example of how the energy has changed for us to ramp up our discovery of who and how powerful we really are. That and I got sick and tired of it controlling me.

I say...hitch a ride on that wave!


How I kicked the Ben & Jerry ice cream habit:

If I had one Ben & Jerry's, it triggered a three day binge. It’s been 14 months since I had Ben & Jerry’s. (With the exception of one pint a month ago.)

These are the article(s) that helped me say, “Enough!”:

Is ice cream really as addictive as cocaine (http://www.naturalnews.com/037362_ice_cream_addictive_cocaine.html)?:

“(NaturalNews) In March 2012, the British news source, Daily Mail, ran a story that stated ice cream was as addicting as cocaine. The article quoted the well-respected American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which had published a study performed at the Oregon Research Institute just days before.

The clinical study reported that people build up a tolerance to ice cream in the same way they build up a tolerance to addictive drugs such as cocaine. The high fat and sugar content in ice cream causes chemical changes in the brain. When a person overeats fatty and sugary foods, there is a downgrade in the brain's pleasure center.

This tolerance for the food is very similar to what happens to drug addicts. Just as it takes more of the drug to achieve the previous satisfaction level, it also takes more food for the junk food lover to feel satisfied.”

Ben & Jerry's 'natural' ice cream filled with unnatural ingredients (http://www.naturalnews.com/029520_natural_ice_cream.html):

(NaturalNews) Consumer watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is calling out popular ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's for using artificial and chemically-altered ingredients in its "All Natural" premium ice creams. According to CSPI at least 90 percent of the flavors used in "All Natural" Ben & Jerry's ice cream are not actually natural.

Some of these ingredients include corn syrup, alkalized cocoa, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, vanillin, maltodextrin and dextrose, all of which involve some type of chemical processing or are simply artificial. Alkalized cocoa, for instance, involves a chemical process that changes cocoa's natural flavor, texture and chemical structure, as well as eliminates some of its acidity and healthy antioxidant content. And vanillin is just an artificial version of vanilla.

"Ben & Jerry's sylvan labels notwithstanding, these ingredients come from the factory, not the farm. And slapping an 'all natural' label on the products certainly implies that the products are top quality and deserve to fetch a higher price," said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of CSPI. "It's a stretch to call any of [these ingredients] 'natural'."

RunningDeer <3

[giovonni]

i confess ... (http://www.theicecreaminformant.com/2012/05/talenti-gelato-sea-salt-caramel-i-had.html) http://www.skype-emoticons.com/images/emoticon-00111-blush.gif

http://pickyrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/dsc_0002.jpgw700.jpeg


sorry folks ~ life's to short ... besides its gluten free ... :rolleyes:

more favors for my fellow criminal minded ones ...

http://www.savingeveryday.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/talenti_gelato_coupon.jpg

PS ~ available at all fine grocery stores

[rgray222]

Well, I must admit that your post is a new twist on an old problem. Normally people are ready to blame evil corporations, TBTB or anyone but themselves for their addictions and their problems. It does appear that you are being a bit harsh on yourself but you are probably being fairly accurate.

Also, I would wager that you are getting very close to quitting (either consciously or subconsciously), the fact that you chose to start a thread about smoking tells me this is something that has been bothering you for sometime and you might be ready to take some action.

If you are these two videos will give you something to think about. If your not .....don't bother watching them.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z16vhtjWKL0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO0qwl5k9R4

[Cardillac]

@Ray

"I am a smoker"- LOL!- welcome to the club, baby- so am I and I'm an opera singer by profession; so someone should SUE us, right? :-)

most people just don't realize how many opera singers are/were smokers (like start with legendary Enrico Caruso)- but all that aside...

I had a very dear, non-smoking aunt who worked for over 20 yrs. in a non-ventilated office where almost all of the other occupants were smokers; she didn't die of lung cancer (other cause) despite inhaling so much 'passive smoke'-

what gets my goat: how many people thoughtlessly eat/ingest poisonous white sugar, Aspartame (the poisonous alternative to poisonous white sugar), junk food, MARGARINE, McDonald's/Wendy's/Burger King/Taco Bell (list is endless), use microwave ovens heating their food in plastic containers (real smart) but yet when someone 10 ft. away from them lights up a cigarette and they get a slight whiff of it go absolutely ballistic and vehemently/vociferously accuse the smoker of...

endangering their health...

be well!

Larry

[RunningDeer]

i confess ... (http://www.theicecreaminformant.com/2012/05/talenti-gelato-sea-salt-caramel-i-had.html) http://www.skype-emoticons.com/images/emoticon-00111-blush.gif

http://pickyrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/dsc_0002.jpgw700.jpeg


sorry folks ~ life's to short ... besides its gluten free ... :rolleyes:

more favors for my fellow criminal minded ones ...

PS ~ available at all fine grocery stores

I have to admit, Gio, that ascetically pleasing to the eye advertisement made my mouth water. I even checked out your link. Alas, I’m boycotting soybeans until I know McMonsanto has flowers growing up from it’s grave(s).

The “Sea Salt Caramel” ingredient piqued my interest… But now that I save money from the closed Ben & Jerry’s account, I lovingly sprinkle Himalayan salt in my ice cold filtered water with fresh organic lemons.

As an added “two fer" bonus, Himalayan salt makes the body alkaline, so…no more sugar cravings. But wait! There’s more! Less calories AND A+ dental check-ups. Ka-ching!

RunningDeer <3

[DNA]

Perhaps this public confession will help us all toward a path of health and true happiness. I haven't broken any laws - so all you NSA grad students can just calm down right now. My crime is of the same nature as yours - perfectly legal and of the most insidious nature - for I am a smoker.

Before the rest of you jump to conclusions, relax - you won't hear me lament about second hand smoke 'cause I use a commercial air filter to completely remove it. Nor will I whine about the health of the body which writes these words. My concern is for the waste, the heart breaking astronomical waste of potential good that I have contributed to.

Ten US dollars a day. Three thousand five hundred something per year...or whatever... can you imagine the human benefit that money could have provided to anyone anywhere in the world?

But no... I had to smoke it. I know cigarettes are full of dangerous chemicals and produced by an evil, megalithic corporation controlled by sociopathic elite families, but yet I still CHOOSE to give them my ten dollars every single day. What is wrong with me?

If a homeless person asks me for one I won't even consider it, they're so expensive. Were I to find myself without these 'neat little soldiers of death' I would consider myself to be suffering. Is this what being insane is?

I am so pathetically self centered that I suffer, indeed I invite illness and pain ( I pay dearly for it!) with my hard earned money rather than help any fellow with it! I would literally be better off (more healthy) burning a ten dollar bill every day! Of course I would never do THAT! THAT would be insane!

And of course I would NEVER consider giving YOU ten dollars every day! Nor you!Nor you! THAT too would be insane! No, I must exchange the money with McSatanCorp for twenty little white sticks, set them aflame and suck the smoke out of them one at a time. After all, it's MY money, right?

If that's not criminal, I don't know what is.

peace

First off, switch to organic tobacco. A lot of what is doing damage to folks who smoke isn't the actual tobacco, it's the preservatives and chemicals used in curing. And in so supporting organic tobacco farmers, a lot of which are far from evil my friend, you will have your money going to a better place.

Second, we all have our vices.
Tobacco has the wonderful quality of filling a need when often the predisposition to addiction could have taken a far more destructive route.
Smoking is very satiating on a physical and emotional level.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Have a good day and if your going to smoke, then try and do it guilt free.
The added guilt isn't going to do you any good. :)

[donk]

Rationalize it any way you want, if you do not choose to not be slave to it anymore, quitting is going to be a battle. To successfully and healthily remove yourself from the slavery, you have to make the decision you are no longer going let it have power over you. Until and unless you can do that, "quitting" will be an activity, something in your life (just like smoking is now).

There's a dude named Carr (I forget his first name) who has a book that kinda hypnotically beats that idea into you through repeating over and over a million different ways--I thought it was the best I have seen strategy for success...it is that shove or reinforcement some people need to get to the only necessary tool toward freedom: a change in mindset.

Of course, your starting mindset has to be one of hating being a slave and realizing your addiction is more fear of not getting the next cig than actual enjoyment of smoking. If you like to smoke, stop torturing yourself--you will have a near impossible time giving up doing what you like

[RunningDeer]

There's a dude named Carr (I forget his first name) who has a book that kinda hypnotically beats that idea into you through repeating over and over a million different ways--I thought it was the best I have seen strategy for success...it is that shove or reinforcement some people need to get to the only necessary tool toward freedom: a change in mindset.

Third party review (http://allencarrreview.com/2012/06/23/allen-carr-2/) of the book, “Allen Carr’s Easy way”.


Ellen DeGeneres stops smoking with Allen Carr's Easyway

Y9S4ojJRP2I

[Octavusprime]

Reading this thread was enough to trigger my nicotine urge... The vape technology has really come around. Cheaper and takes out the cancer causing smoke. There are many flavors out there not to mention a huge DIY oil making scene. People are coming up with some really crazy flavors, teaberry champagne anyone?

Anywho, going to puff on mine and enjoy the morning sun by the garden.

Cheers!

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

Many of these stories are super heart-touching etc...

but I found Lifebringer's story to be rather close to my own.
I am not a good accountant or budgeter but my husband DID wreck our finances.

Part of it was laziness, part was a need to have others take care of him, dependence on credit,
some of it was alcoholism and of course he smoked at least a pack a day on top.
He gambled, was rude at home in the evening, and drank too much.



I too found myself unable to say "I love you too" without lying.
I too felt like I was stuck with a caveman or gorilla.
And not in any sort of good way.

There was no hiking, jogging, biking or running for us -- just self-entitlement and addiction.

IT was PATHETIC and I gave him an ultimatum after he was unemployed for two years straight:
more ebay or hit the road.

And he chose to leave rather than work.
I feel better already although many of our problems are still unresolved.

The credit is destroyed, we have no savings,
stuck in Housing Authority tenement at present.
Son out of home, no MMJ grow, etc. etc. etc.

There was always an excuse for NOT doing what I wanted and for HIM doing what he wanted.

F that.

[Mercedes]

Hello Ray, I couldn't even begin to tell you how to feel about quitting, because I've never smoked, but I've been married to a smoker for thirty years, seen him quit for months cold turkey, chew gum, skin patches, all, and then when he seems like he's overcome the anxiety he will start to smoke again with no reason. He's tried many many times I can't say that he hasn't. I used to judge him and fight over his weakness, but it didn't help, more like the contrary. He''s had a heart attack already, and still he cannot quit. He knows the risks, he knows statistics he has educated himself very much about the subject but still cannot quit. I can only see him walk his path and be there for when he decides to quit or... assume the consequences. We are all heroes in our lives, enduring whatever we get thrown our way or changing our path for another. Much love.

[seeker/reader]

I was a smoker for 11 years. I smoked a pack a day until i started experiencing an aching pain in my upper back. I knew it was due to my habit and i quit cold turkey. I had to be vigilant for about 3 to 4 weeks but then after that the smell of cigarette smoke went from being enticing to being an extreme turn off. The smell has stayed unappealing to me ever since. My back pain went away shortly after i quit and i have been smoke free for the past 14 years.

So from my experience you gotta really have a good incentive/need to quit and for me it was physical pain. Once I got past that one month hump there was no looking back.

But as others have mentioned I too have heard that negative entities dislike the smell of tobacco smoke so I can see why it has been viewed as a sacred plant by native peoples and used in part of their ceremonies.

[Milneman]

LMAO

Ray? You don't want to quit because you get something out of it. Even though you know smoking is destructive to your body, you get something out of it. You won't quit unless you want to.

Does that make you a criminal?

Not really. But you get something out of calling yourself a criminal in the same way you get something out of smoking. :)

Welcome to Avalon again bud.

(Smoke free almost 10 years from 2+packs a day)

[joeecho]

A person saying they're a criminal is like stating the obvious. What about the full prison outfit we were born with?

Every 'individual' that has walked this planet is a criminal in the broad sense of the word.

In the USA, the government seems hell bent to make as many people a criminal in the narrower sense of the word.

The Prison Industry in the United States is BIG Business. Prisoners are treated like a commodity. (Now that could be a thread on this forum in it's own right. Coppertop battery anyone?)

Was that a tangent I just went on? :cool2:

[Taurean]

Don't be so hard on yourself, there are hundreds of other things you could squander your money on.

Do your duty and just keep spending and carry on being a good little consumer

The aroma of tobacco I used to find quite pleasant, just like any other insence, until they messed with it and started to use smoking as weapon to F*** with peoples minds.

30 or 40 years ago we never had to listen to all the demonising that gets associated with smoking these days. Just look at the old movies, it was a good source of tax revenue.

At the end of the day it is my prefered, and legal narcotic.

Now how many of those self righteous, sanctimonious repeaters don't have some other form of indulgence that we could, if we were so inclined, criticise ?

When the media decides to launch a campaign to demonise something they can apply it to whatever they want.

[Daughter of Time]

Hello Ray,

As long as you keep referring to yourself as a criminal, you will be guilt-ridden.

While you're guilt-ridden you will feel much anxiety.

Anxiety has always been the trigger for me to pick up a package of cigarettes.

Although I've never been a heavy smoker, there were periods in my life when I was a light but regular smoker. I felt badly about it. The more badly I felt about it, the more I wanted to smoke.

When I finally stopped feeling badly about being a smoker and realized there are worse things a human being can do, I gave my imperfect human mind a break from feeling badly, and so I was able to quit.

I am an occasional smoker now. If I'm in the company of smokers during a cocktail party, I have a cigarette. If I go through extreme anxiety, I buy a pack and smoke it until it's gone or until the anxiety passes. It's not the end of the world. I'm human. And it's a treat now instead of being a habit. And while I realize I'd probably be better off never smoking again, a cigarette now and then relieves my anxiety and eases stress. If I were a heavier smoker, I'd definitely switch to organic tobacco.

Some ex smokers I know were able to quit by doing meditation regularly. Others did it with patches and gums. There are many ways to quit, but until you're ready to do so, don't condemn yourself.

With love,

Daughter of Time