Originally Posted by
Happytown 
Thank you! how old are you? what kind of rewards did you find? and how long did it take to get there? in what ways is life better? have you not smoked even once in three years? do you think it has to be 100%all or nothing? what do you do now with the craving?
You're welcome! I'm 56. The rewards are many. Here's a great list.
https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...hout-weed.html (Reasons Life is Better Without Weed)
At the top of the list for me is the self loathing is gone. I hated myself for my lack of self control. The self loathing disappeared the moment I made the commitment to quit. And the commitment didn't happen when I stopped smoking. The commitment happened when I threw away all my pipes and stuff and decided that that was it. I was completely done with pot. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. So damn scary. But yet so liberating.
The other rewards took some time to get there. It took time for the fog to clear and even longer to string two coherent sentences together. It took time to clear out my lungs so that I could breathe normally, laugh without coughing up gobs of black crap. The rewards far outnumber the perceived benefits of smoking pot. And the farther I get away from it, the more time I log in, the better it gets.
Yep, it'll be 7 months soon. I really believe it is all or nothing. There is no moderating, no just once in a while. When I have it, I want to smoke it NOW, and when it's gone, I want more. I couldn't stand living like that anymore. I was miserable.
The cravings went away when I made that commitment to never, ever smoke again. When someone comes to your door to sell you something, what do they do when you say maybe? They keep knocking. When you flat out say , "NO!" they go away and leave you alone.
There is something else that I call the Whispers. It happened at Christmas when I was exposed to pot, but they are mild and easily dismissed.
That first step is hard, but like anything else, it gets better with practice.
Take that first step.