Congrats! Apparently a method that worked for you.

@Gert, i imagine it would work for anyone with the genuine intention. the woman who did it was confident about her method: should one start smoking again she offered to give it another go for free, an unlimited number of times. for that "guarantee" she charged a mind-boggling fee of $470 for the initial 60 minute hypno. i never went back & saved approx. $6,700 since then

@walklightly Well that's a lot of money that you now can spend on cigarettes or other methods. For the cheapest cigarettes it's $ 5.41 for a package of 20 you can buy 1,238 1/2 packages for $ 6,700, which is about 24,770 cigarettes. That's a lot.
Before I stopped in 1990 I smoked 1 package per 2 days, present price for a package in the Netherlands is € 6.70. I stopped in 1990, which is about 10,220 days ago. That is 5,110 packages, the present price that is € 34,237 = $42.095.31. Well, that's quite impressive to me. In the mean time my health benefits skyrocketed my lungs are quite healthy again (taking in account that the air quality in the US is not as good as it could be and is even getting worse under the inspiring leadership of Mr.T45).
Anyway, I did not need hypno, I just needed the realization that the tobacco controlled me, and I hate to be controlled by something or someone else than myself. That's why I made the first serious decision to stop. And it worked.

@walklightly By the way, this is not to annoy you. Just typing down a few thoughts. There is no way I would consider attacking you on what you replied. It is more: "Wow, did I save that?", but also: "Wow, how have I ever been able to pay for that since I was 12. Ok, tobacco was much cheaper than, but still ………

@Gert, i'm not annoyed; why would you even consider it? i was born a passive smoker, due to my father being a smoker, & in the colder climate of germany people didn't think twice about smoking indoors. my mother, who never touched a cigarette in her life, developed an emphysema. i have an emphysema. i used to be surrounded later in life by an artistic, rebellious & smoking mob. everyone was a pothead, & i never felt as though any of this was controlling me - ha! no excuses on my part, just some explanations. you seem to have been particularly lucky & determined.

@walklightly Good that you were not annoyed, as it was not meant that way. I considered it because some people are annoyed when someone talks about their addiction. And indeed, I have not ever felt that smoking was controlling me, until I realized that I was addicted. But I still thought that I could control it, by smoking less and stop slowly. That did not work for several times that I tried to stop that way. I had so many excuses available to sooth my unpleasant feeling that I had about smoking. A few years later I started to realize that it was not the addiction itself, but I started to realize that the cigarettes appeared to control me in stead of the other way around. Yes, that gave me some determination. Just stopping had shown that that was not enough. I needed to get rid of the controlling influence. I always hated when someone made me do things that I did not really want. After my eyes were opened stopping was pretty easy. But whatever, I don't judge people that smoke. In general I keep a little distance because of the smell, but that's all. Noting personal ever. Actually the same way that I don't judge religious people because they are addicted from child on still needing their shot of sermon every week.

@Gert, yes, the smell would keep me at a distance to smokers these days, not a moral high ground. i don't know where anyone else is at in her/his life, so who am i to judge?

Of course no advice. Advice doesn't work because you don't own that. You have to be ready to make that crucial decision yourself, that you're better off for whatever reason that works for you.

Smart conclusion. This should be taught in school, with footage of a lot of people struggling for air.

You were still young than, it must have helped you to stay healthy.

@Gert I think I just thought it was "cool."

I guess it's not so strange that you hate the smell. Actually it stinks! It gets not only in your clothes, it gets in your skin. You still smell when you just come from a shower. As a smoker I never realized that an never smelled that.

You acted perfectly. Apparently your mother got the message.

Hope it helped. Anyway, for what reason you did it, it's better late than never …… I guess.

I feel so much better

Respect.

Lucky guy, drink from plastic bottles? Just kidding!

The worst that I experience of smokers is that they really have a stinking aura-like bubble around them. When I'm at a register in the supermarket, I give my spot away and stay on a comfortable distance. But no judgement, I know how hard it is to stop, even at such a cost nowadays.

Great. Did you really made decision to quit for a mentally strong reason, that keeps you from it and motivates you to keep on going? Realizing that it controlled me was an eye-opener and motivation to stop. I hate to be forced, I guess that's why I also stopped to be religious after so many years. It's an addiction too. Psychological, but still an addiction.

@Gert my son took me three years after he was born but also his mum splitting up with me made it easier way less stress in my life now

If you need cannabis for health issues there are way more means of taking it without smoking.

@Gert I know I make edibles too but I don't take thc at all as I get drug tested working on the railway and I don't need cannabis for medical reasons

You are right, but 50 years ago having the right to smoke was not an issue. Most people smoked and never regarded the needs of non-smokers. The worst of course is the tobacco industry that ads addicting chemicals to the tobacco and refuse to admit it, and keep doing it.