I don’t normally have an addictive personality. I can do something once or twice and then never even think about again. That goes for just about anything; drinking, gambling, food. I’ve always been quite proud of that fact. Now, what I’m not proud of is the fact that as always, there is one exception. Cigarettes. I’ve been smoking since the age of 16. I am now 36, going to be 37 soon. That’s 20 years of smoking and slowly placing nails in my coffin.

I’ve tried quitting a few times. There’s been the cold turkey approach which lasted a week, patches, gum and most recently, the V2 electric cigarettes. So far, none have worked for me. Suffice to say, here I am typing away with a cigarette in hand. I hate it. Not only am I slowly killing myself with this garbage, I stink. Well, my hands smell like tar and nicotine. It is disgusting.

I’ve had my reasonings as to why my previous attempts have failed. Going cold turkey made me an absolute bitch. By the end of week one, I couldn’t even stand myself. It was terrible. I knew it would pass and I would eventually return back to normal. However, how many people would I piss off in the process? Would I lose my job on account of it? Granted, I know there are people who would be patient and understanding of the fact that I was having nicotine fits, yet it wouldn’t be right of me to have someone else have to deal with me on account of my bad habit.

As for patches and gums, neither of those did anything for me. I came to find out that one of the main reasons I enjoyed smoking so much was the dirty pranayama aspect of it. Not only was I taking slow and focused breaths, but I actually liked the burn of the draw as it would hit my throat. That’s not something that could be replaced by chewing gum or placing a sticker on my skin.

Then I came across electronic cigarettes. I thought I finally found a way to not only get my nicotine fix and oral fixation needs met, but I would be doing away with all the tar and other carcinogens those lovely little cigarette makers throw in each beautiful, cylindrical stick. In theory, they will work for me. Now, to find the right one. The V2 wasn’t it. I disliked the aftertaste of all the different flavors I tried and I found even the strongest one, weak.

Now what do I do? Then it occurred to me. My wolf has a Vapor Shark and I gave it a try. Needless to say I got a full throat hit, lots of vapor and it tasted good. I’ve puffed on it from time to time, while I’m not smoking my traditional cigarettes and so far I’m really liking it. The fact that I can get great tasting flavors is a plus. So I ordered myself one last night and I’m waiting for it to arrive. With any luck and of course some will power, this will do the trick. Of course I will let you all know how it works out for me. For now, off to work I go.