And how long have you been a non-smoker?
For me, at the time it was the realization that I cannot continue to smoke and continue to play the trumpet. My lung volume and strength really suffered. But instead of stopping to smoke, for many months I played less and less trumpet.
What put me through the phase of actually smoking the last cigarette and becoming a non-smoker again, was one of the books of Allen Carr, I don’t remember the exact title. Looking back, it was awfully written, and I had to will my way through believing the narrative, but it worked. That was 27 years ago, and I didn’t have one cigarette since, no cravings and no replacement either.
I vaped for about 7 years after I quit cigarettes and gradually tapered down the nicotine too… About a year at the end I was vaping nothing but vegetable glycerin and flavoring… Finally quit completely because I finally physically lost my vape and realized it didn’t really matter anymore with as little as I’d been relying on it.