"Hello there, how you doin'? I've got all these thoughts just floating through my brain. They bump and they collide and cause a flurry of confusion, and it's getting on my nerves. I try to hold myself together, fighting off this mental weather when I can (sometimes I do). But this shitstorm's never ending, and the atmospheric pressure's calling for rain. This is what I've got going on. This is where I belong tonight."

At the moment I'm listening to "Where I Belong - Motion City Soundtrack".

Well, I'm a little disappointed equally proud of myself! I ended up giving into my craving and had a smoke today. Just one. That is the disappointment, but the proud-ness is in how I went cold-turkey for 7 whole days! That's REALLY good!

My plans for this next week concerning smoking are a little different than last weeks. This week I am experimenting whether having one smoke a day is more beneficial (in my overall happiness and energy levels) than going cold-turkey. Obviously going cold-turkey is more beneficial for my physical health, but one smoke a day, and then slowly starting to cut down to eventually quitting might have more long-term effects.

Overall this past week, I have noticed the full effects of a severe, and dangerous, addiction. I have had very limited sleep, continuous dreams about smoking, over-eating and an increased eating rate, substituting food for smokes (which in turn is making me put on a bit of weight), feeling dizzy, fainting (I actually fainted in the middle of my lecture... it was really awkward.....), extreme mood swings, decrease in concentration levels, decrease in energy levels (probably also caused by the lack of sleep), and absolutely no motivation to do anything active and healthy.

These effects have definitely not helped me this week, especially with all the assignments I have to do. This is why I'm choosing to slowly cut-down instead of "quit" altogether at the moment. And, every time you go cold-turkey, you last a little longer each time. I'm looking forward going longer than 7 days next time. I'm definitely getting closer to a positive outcome and setting myself up for a better and brighter future. :)

Hope you're well. :D