Another vaping life story; I'll try to be succinct.
I initially tried an e-cig in the winter of 2012 after reading about how far the technology had come and how many (& incredible) success stories there were (thanks to this site). It was a drugstore-bought chinese-made e-cig, but my initial thought after trying it was "holy snikees! This is revolutionary!". Soon after, I tried the Blu and stuck with it for several weeks. But however revolutionary the technology was, it just didn't completely do it for me. I still smoked, but much less, and at some point was down to a consistent 1-2 cig a day habit.
Within that same month that I achieved an incredible feet of mitigating my smoking habits, my employer (in NY at the time) instituted a no-smoking policy on company grounds. As it was against my employer's imperial-law to leave the property during any breaks (leaving the property would require punching out [even as a salaried employee], which was only allowed during lunch), I found myself smoking real cigs whenever I was off grounds; if I had the opportunity, I felt like I had to seize it, since I was working in a Naz ... lets say company that had no respect for personal lifestyle decisions. Soon after that, I was sneaking cigs just to rebel against them (ok, and I like how they taste).
So I went back to ciggies full-time. Thus continued the 1-2 PAD habit that I had suffered through for almost 15 years at that point. I tried some gen-2 stuff about a year later, but it didn't quite do it for me and I was constantly getting dry puffs.
A couple years later, I met someone that I love and decided that I wanted to be around a little while longer. We moved from our crappy, intolerant jobs in NY and set up camp in a more liberated state. I saw that the e-cig technology had come quite a ways and read a few articles about what good gen-3 setups would be for a newbie (as I had no experience, but understand technical aspects quite well). Based on the advice I received, I bought an iStick, Aspire nautilus, and my old favorite juice. I haven't experienced a dry puff since and have lowered my 1-2 PAD habit to about a 1/4 PAD habit, even while dealing with new personal-life stresses. Ironically, I found it easier to cut back on smoking down here, due to the more tolerant atmosphere; the lack of pressure helped me do it for ME.
I just smoked the last cigarette I had on me about 2 hours ago and I'm typing this while I vape, knowing that that fact doesn't bother me. I still smoke some, but I feel free-er than I have since I was young. That might not be the success story everyone wants to hear about, but I'd gladly vape and smoke much less for the rest of my life than say that I never tried anything. Every cigarette not smoked is a battle won. This is a success story in my book, and should read as such to anyone sensical.
I realize not everyone has the same experience in life and it is our experiences that shape us, but most people have known someone who died from smoking. And I think many of us agree that we would have done just about anything to see them for just a few more years. This technology will give us those few more years, if not many, but only if we don't let misguided beliefs marginalize it.
I initially tried an e-cig in the winter of 2012 after reading about how far the technology had come and how many (& incredible) success stories there were (thanks to this site). It was a drugstore-bought chinese-made e-cig, but my initial thought after trying it was "holy snikees! This is revolutionary!". Soon after, I tried the Blu and stuck with it for several weeks. But however revolutionary the technology was, it just didn't completely do it for me. I still smoked, but much less, and at some point was down to a consistent 1-2 cig a day habit.
Within that same month that I achieved an incredible feet of mitigating my smoking habits, my employer (in NY at the time) instituted a no-smoking policy on company grounds. As it was against my employer's imperial-law to leave the property during any breaks (leaving the property would require punching out [even as a salaried employee], which was only allowed during lunch), I found myself smoking real cigs whenever I was off grounds; if I had the opportunity, I felt like I had to seize it, since I was working in a Naz ... lets say company that had no respect for personal lifestyle decisions. Soon after that, I was sneaking cigs just to rebel against them (ok, and I like how they taste).
So I went back to ciggies full-time. Thus continued the 1-2 PAD habit that I had suffered through for almost 15 years at that point. I tried some gen-2 stuff about a year later, but it didn't quite do it for me and I was constantly getting dry puffs.
A couple years later, I met someone that I love and decided that I wanted to be around a little while longer. We moved from our crappy, intolerant jobs in NY and set up camp in a more liberated state. I saw that the e-cig technology had come quite a ways and read a few articles about what good gen-3 setups would be for a newbie (as I had no experience, but understand technical aspects quite well). Based on the advice I received, I bought an iStick, Aspire nautilus, and my old favorite juice. I haven't experienced a dry puff since and have lowered my 1-2 PAD habit to about a 1/4 PAD habit, even while dealing with new personal-life stresses. Ironically, I found it easier to cut back on smoking down here, due to the more tolerant atmosphere; the lack of pressure helped me do it for ME.
I just smoked the last cigarette I had on me about 2 hours ago and I'm typing this while I vape, knowing that that fact doesn't bother me. I still smoke some, but I feel free-er than I have since I was young. That might not be the success story everyone wants to hear about, but I'd gladly vape and smoke much less for the rest of my life than say that I never tried anything. Every cigarette not smoked is a battle won. This is a success story in my book, and should read as such to anyone sensical.
I realize not everyone has the same experience in life and it is our experiences that shape us, but most people have known someone who died from smoking. And I think many of us agree that we would have done just about anything to see them for just a few more years. This technology will give us those few more years, if not many, but only if we don't let misguided beliefs marginalize it.
