A Day to Celebrate

August 4th may not mean a lot to the whole world, but to me it is a day that will change the course of my life forever. It is the day 3 years ago that I gave up smoking.

I started smoking at 14 years of age and I had always struggled with trying to quit. In June 2008 a second aunt of mine passed away at a young age from an unexpected brain aneurysm. I wasn't very close to her but it got me thinking about life. I started to think of how much she was going to miss out on, her children's weddings, her grandchildren growing up, just a whole lot of things she wouldn't be here for.

My aunt had no way of knowing this would happen or any way of being able to prevent it, things like that just happen. That made me think of my own life and my own mortality, I DID have a choice, a way to prevent something that I knew would eventually catch up with me. So with alot of praying and struggling, God gave me the strength to overcome something that had such a tight grip on me, addiction. August 3rd 2008 was the last day I ever smoked a cigarette and the beginning of a longer healthier life for me.

So many people die unexepectly or much too prematurely. In life, for the most part, we never know how or when when we will die. I realized though that I didn't want to dig myself an early grave when I didn't have to. I didn't want to miss out on my children growing up, getting married, and having a family of their own. I didn't want to have any regrets. I wanted it to be my time naturally, accidently, unexpectedly but not regretfully.

A few months after I quit smoking, my uncle got diagnosed with terminal throat cancer, due to smoking. He underwent a surgery to remove his voice box, lots of miserable chemotherapy and radiation but worst of all he had so much regret. 9 months after his diagnosis he passed away. Before he died he told me over and over again, don't worry about anything and  please don't ever smoke again. I haven't and won't.

Instead of living and learning which is usually what it takes for me, I opened my eyes and gave it to God, trusted myself and trusted the words of someone who learned the hard way. I have never been so proud of myself for anything I have accomplished in my whole life. I know this is definitely a day to celebrate, every year for the rest of my longer life.