Hey leaves!

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Thought I'd give an update on my progress so far, as it's been a while. If you're on the fence about quitting, I hope this will be of use, and perhaps even the catalyst for your weed free life!

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My weed habit originally started due to a new career, and primarily, as a stress reliever and a way of getting a good night sleep. However, as we all know, with time and constant use, it's easily abused, and can quite quickly turn into an addiction. I thought I had everything under control, because I set myself strict times for when it's acceptable to smoke, and having started a new job, I told myself if it ever impacted on my ability to work, I'd quit straight up.

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First I started smoking at weekends, then a few times a week, and eventually, at the blink of an eye, 4 and a half years had gone by. At my worst, I was smoking 3 bowls an evening, but did I ever decide to quit? Of course not! Because it wasn't impacting my work, and I was sticking to my schedule of only smoking in the evening!

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As you know, 4 and a half years of daily smoking isn't good for anyone. I'd spend ages trying to remedy my depression anxiety anyway I could without looking at the root cause... weed.

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Last year I started to evaluate my life, and started to look the three main things aspects: personal life, health and career.

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What I stupidly failed to realise at the time, was that whilst weed wasn't impacting the ability to do my job, it was clearly having an effect on both my personal life and my health.

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Shortly after starting a new job, I decided to quit this habit for good (after 3 failed attempts), and hear I am 7 months later, still clean and starting to enjoy my life again. I've rediscovered my interests, found new ones and have even been able to connect with old friends!

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Here are some takeaways from my experience:

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You've got to want to quit

For me, the anxiety just became too much. As mentioned, I tried to quit in the past, however I didn't really want to quit, as I was happy (at the time) living in my own little bubble, anxious and avoiding the world. Eventually, he thought of having another panic attack scared the shit out of me, and continues to be the reason why I don't smoke anymore. As soon as the side effects outweigh the reward, you know it's time to call it quits.

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The first month is the hardest

You'll struggle to get to sleep, you'll get agitated at pointless shit, you'll crave, and you'll be bored as fuck, but please keep going. I promise, it gets so much easier.

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Quitting alone won't solve all your problems

By all means, I encourage you all to quit weed if it's not helping you in your lives, but please don't think everything will be okay as soon as you quit. The healing process is a long one, and I feel like I'm only just starting to become my old self again. Don't use this as an excuse for not stopping though, part of this is down to the fact I've still got other areas in my life that need attention. A sober life simply helps with forcing you to address these problems, whether it being mental health, lack of social life or something else entirely.

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Don't give in to temptation

It's easy to give in when given the opportunity to smoke for the first couple months. But again, it gets easier with time. I'm at the point now where I've turnt down weed on multiple occasions, and to this day, still live with a housemate who smokes daily. I promise you, the feeling of turning it down is amazing, and it becomes easier with time.

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If you fail at first, start to cut down your usage

I first tried to quit during the worst part of my habit, smoking dabs every night. Obviously, I failed. Personally, I've found that cutting your usage down can help dramatically. Slowly, start to cut down your usage, and it'll make the process as whole lot easier on you. Over the course of 6 months, I went from 3 dabs a night, to 1 bowl using a PAX 2, at which point, I felt ready to quit.

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Don't set timescales

People may disagree with this, but I personally find it stupid to go in with a mindset of 'I'm never smoking weed again' shortly after quitting. Sure, you shouldn't quit, with the intention of picking it up again later down the line, equally, I find the former just as stupid. Whilst I have no intention of smoking weed again any time soon, I'm open to it, if and when I feel ready. I'm at the point now where I've come so far, having weed simply isn't worth it, as I'm still in recovery. I do think given enough time though, I'll be able to responsibly use weed again, having gone through this experience, and have no intention of turning it into a habit again.

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I hope my unstructured ramblings were of use to someone!

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Good luck, you've got this!

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Happy to answer questions too if you have any!

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