smoke-free anniversary

Yesterday, August 15th, marked exactly 16 years since I quit smoking. It was the easiest decision of my life, yet the hardest one to actually pull off.

The times that followed were an absolute nightmare. Anxiety shattered everything, and I even started having physical symptoms that messed with my vision. I had to go on meds just to keep the anxiety in check; my emotional fragility was completely off the charts.

At my worst, I was going through 3 packs a day—I was basically a walking tar factory. My physical stamina for climbing stairs or doing anything that actually required lung power was completely shot. I just had to stop.

But since that day, August 15, 2010, I haven't had a single puff.