That freedom occurred 10 years earlier for me. I woke up the morning of my fortieth birthday, took stock of what I had, and then said, I don't give a damn. You reach an age when what you have becomes enough. The earlier years are so goal oriented and , therefore, the road to fulfillment is likely to be paved with a lot of disappointment. Also, when I was younger I still hadn't worked through the grief of my childhood. (I ended up in foster care.) I think twentysomethings are still very much their parents' children. Childhood traumas had negative impacts clear into my thirties. The intrusive thoughts of PTSD didn't stop until I was nearly forty. It takes a while to develop the skills that assist in undoing the damage. It's not that I haven't been disappointed since I turned forty. There was some grieving about what I was never going to get, but I've learned to reinvent myself. I accept what I have more and don't feel the need to keep striving for material wealth, nor do I spend so much time trying to keep up with people who were always ahead of me. They usually had advantages that I did not have. And yes, I do believe that is important. Now I spend more time trying to figure out to be comfortable with what I have or with even less. That requires spending more time working on me.
My Mileage:
My Quit Date: 5/1/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 383
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 10,724
Amount Saved: $4,557.70
Life Gained:
Days: 43 Hrs: 3 Mins: 3 Seconds: 59
