Another Attempt

I started smoking in 1981.  Since then, I have tried to quit on several occasions.  My best attempt lasted a month and a half.  It wasn’t because I wanted to quit, it was because I had lost my job and had no money for cigarettes,

There are a few things I have to take care of before I can quit.  One is that I tend to get flustered easily and my thinking becomes clouded because I no longer have that crutch to calm me down.

The other is that smoking has helped masked some of my signs of Asperger’s Syndrome.  I am less anxious around people when I smoke and find it easier to strike up a conversation.  I was reclusive before I started smoking and I become reclusive when I go more than a few hours without a cigarette.

I went the first three days of 2010 without a cigarette.  I broke down and bought a pack, then went another two days without a cigarette. I have been smoking since, though less than I have in the past.

I recently bought a can of rolling tobacco, which is equivalent to over a carton of cigarettes.  I am going to wean off of smoking during this time.  Any suggestions on how I can keep a clear head and not be so reclusive would be appreciated.

Back to the Drawing Board

I had set some goals for me at the beginning of the year.   Here is my “bucket list”:

Some of my goals are vague.  “Be happy.” is an example.  it’s a matter of keeping on the right frame of mind.

Others are goals that I will start in March, once I am in my new place.

The rest are those I started on January 1

Smoking – I went the first three days without a cigarette, broke down and bought a pack, went another couple days without a cigarette, and have been smoking since.

Watching my weight  – I started well, but I have have faultered in the last week.  I am back where I started 2010 at 228 lbs.

Walk a mile every day – Today was the first time I haven’t walked in a while.  It was like a tropical storm.  Winds were clocked at 47 MPH and over 2 inches of rain had fallen by 1PM.

Blogging every day:  Between this blog and my other blog, I have been good.  I blog on at least one of the blogs and usually both.

I have accomplished some, but not everything I wanted to accomplish by now.  I will get myself on track and improve what I need to improve.

Back to Life

Enough ranting about Tuesday’s election.  It will soon be shown that I was correct about Scott Brown.  There are other things on the table:

Personal Goals:

I haven’t weighed myself lately, so I do not know my current weight.  I have resumed smoking.  I am now averaging walking three miles a day.

Sports:

The Super Bowl will be the Jets against the Saints.  The Jets’ defense is doing what the Steelers’ defense did during the playoffs last year:  Play four quarters of aggressive defense.  Most teams play a soft zone or a prevent defense with a lead late in the fourth quarter.  The Jets haven’t this year and the Steelers didn’t last year.  The reason why you shouldn’t switch to a soft zone when winning is because a team should stay with their regular defense if they are winning.

Asperger’s Syndrome:

One of the benefits of having Asperger’s Syndrome is I tend to be more observant than most people.  I am not more observational because of a special gift, but because I am introverted and have a hard time striking up a conversation.  My politics is a by-product of Asperger’s as I have seen that the rhetoric of the Democrats and the Republicans are quite different, but their actions are often the same.  I will go into more detail on thin in a future blog entry.

It Just Isn’t There

Here it is.  I couldn’t think of anything I found interesting.  Just a quick notes about my progress with my list of things I want to do for 2010 and beyond.

Walking a mile every day – I have been lax.  I’ve only done the full mile once in the last three days.

Quitting Smoking –  I had a puff from a cigarette today.

Losing Weight – I lost 6 pounds since the start of the year.  Food hasn’t been too much of a problem.

Try, Try Again

I was overwhelmed with a lot of stuff today.  Today wasn’t supposed to be a typical Monday for me.  It was a typical Monday for everybody I came in contact with and they wanted me to share in their experiences.  I broke down and got some cigarettes.  I will try quitting again after this.

I thought after going a day or two without cigarettes that it would get easier not to smoke.   So far, out of all the resolutions I have made, I have only been able to keep one.  Twenty-five years ago, I had my last marijuana cigarette.  Marijuana was becoming a problem for me and laws tightening up on marijuana wasn’t helping.

I will once again try to quit smoking as soon as I am finished with this pack.

So Far, So Good

So far 2010 has been a good year as far as the goals I have set for myself.  I managed to go the whole day without a cigarette.  Finding time to walk was difficult, but I managed to squeeze the time in.  The journal will start tomorrow.