“The thing that really got me through quitting tobacco products was…”

“When I first started smoking maybe once a day, and anybody with children knows, it can get stressful. So, I went from smoking one cigarette to maybe smoking like 4 or 5 a day. And it’s bad because I was addicted to it for close to three years. I started in 2017. It got just too much. Too much from my pockets, I couldn’t afford it anymore. Like, it takes a big chunk out of your check.

The exact moment when I was like 'I’m done' is when I couldn’t afford to pay my rent, my bills, and looking at my kids. It did trigger me like, you have to stop. You don’t want to be this person. You want to be a mother to your children. You have three children looking up to you. Your children want to experience that motherly love that you, that you never had. Your children want to see that.

The withdrawal was very hard. I prayed. I’ve looked for resources online. Looking at other people’s stories on how they quit smoking, what they did.

The thing that really got me through quitting tobacco products, was music. Music. Music. Music. That’s just my thing. I can get in the car. I can go driving. And once I’m doing that tobacco is not on my mind. It’s music. It’s the lyrics. It’s the song. It’s me thinking about success.

When I was done smoking, I felt good. Like – I felt strong. like I felt like I was my kids’ supermom, like I don’t feel stressed out. I feel happy. I feel free. I have a savings account with money in it in case something goes wrong. I never had a savings account when I was smoking cigarettes.

It’s most definitely a good feeling that I don’t ever want to lose. My advice to others is find your thing. Whatever motivates you. Find your thing that you absolutely love to do in life, and it’ll help you. It helped me. It can help anybody.”