You know you're a smoker when....

i've decided that there are many different ways of deciding the degree to which you are a smoker...i've been on multiple rims of the spectrum so i think that i have some kind of idea on this subject....it's like this:'

1. Full-time Smoker (i'm talking like -all day, fullly addicted, smoking all the time, always has a pack, smokes every possible moment plus some, loves the taste, smell and idea of everything ciggarette related, loves being a smoker - kind of person)
2. Social Smoker ("the only time i smoke is when other people are smoking" or "the only time i can't control my smoking is when other people are smoking")
3. One puff smoker ("can i just get one puff? i really don't want more than that" or "i bought this pack of cigaret'tes but i only smoked one...do you want the rest")
4. One time smoker ("I've had one taste of cigarette smoke in my life and i hated it!" or "i tried it out one time to see what it was like and i had this whole wierd experience that made me never want to try it again")
5. Never smoked cigarettes before

at this point i believe that i have been a full time smoker (#1) for at least 5-6 full years now...

i dont think that i could ever sucessfully settle on being a social smoker at this point in my life (#2)...i know it would be too easy to break down in a situation where others are smoking...that's why i know that i have to distance my self from other smokers (specifically while they're smoking) in order to keep myself from wanting to join in...this presents an even more difficult problem given the fact that i have made many friends specifically due to the fact that i am a smoker...many of the relationships the i have with people depend on the fact that we go out and have cigarettes together........i haven't been able to decide whether it is a good thing or a bad thing to have a cigarette with these people.........

now..i also know, that my current goal - being a person trying to quit smoking - is to get to being a one puff smoker (#3) and say there untill it's completely out of my system

i decided to cut out ex - smoker as a stage because i decided that an ex-smoker can fit into pretty much anything ranging between #3 and #5...and you know what...i don't think i will ever be able to get the thought of smoking out of my system, because i know that cigarettes have already branded me for life! i will always either be a smoker or an ex - smoker...cigarettes will always play a factor...

i guess it is up to me to decide whether they will be the factor that kills me or the factor that i conquered