I gave up alcohol a long time ago and have never been one for illicit drugs, however, I’ve been a smoker for going on 45 years.
Nicotine is possibly the hardest drug to kick, but, I decided enough was enough and stopped smoking 5 days ago for the benefit of my health and my pocket.
I’m writing this from my hospital bed on oxygen, I’ve got bloody pneumonia, not just once but twice and I’ve been diagnosed with COPD(which isn’t a police department in some obscure US county), so smoking is a thing of the past for me and I couldn’t smoke a fag now even if I tried.
But the whole point of this topic is addiction and the fact that I now don’t have any.
So if anyone can suggest an addiction I would be grateful, but, it must meet the following criteria:
It must not cost anything.
It must not endanger health.
It must no require any vigorous physical activities.
It must be legal.
It must not endanger or offend anyone else.
It must not require any paraphernalia.
It must not be sexual in nature.
It must be enjoyable with no after effects.
So far all I’ve managed to come up with is breathing.
I eagerly await your ideas.
I’ve used working out as one of my new “addictions” but at some point you have to spend money on at least clothing or shoes so I think that one is out the window
Congrats on kicking the habit and I hope you recover soon!
Most types of exercise can be modified to meet these requirements (the only modification needed would be reducing the vigour): walking, hiking, canoeing, etc.
I’m assuming shoes and canoe paddles are not “paraphernalia” in the sense that you mean
Counting your steps everyday and changing your goal to try and beat it. Just a movement goal. With a watch or a tracker. Even your phone can act as one.
It’s a one time cost I guess:(
When your better might be something to do outside or in. You can get tokens and badges for breaking your records and streaks. Hope you feel better!
Thanks for the idea I’ve already got a watch that does that, I’ve just never thought of using it that way, feeling a bit better off the oxygen for a while and they’ll measure my Sat’s in an hour or so
I recommend a glass of gratitude. Take an old glas or pot you don’t use anymore and put in it a note about things you’re grateful for. Daily, weekly, global or very private gratitude, as you like. At the end of the year read it again and burn it to make space for new gratitude. I do it and can tell you, it is kind of addictive
We have been doing this for about 7 years…we call it our Happy Things
jar. Put in little slips of paper with big or little things that made us smile.
We read the slips of paper after each New Year. It reminds us of happy / grateful times throughout the past year. We also keep them and go thru old years. It is a lovely ritual.
Huge congratulations ln quitting smoking! Really proud of you for that! My inital thought was some low impact modified exercise but with having COPD that may be difficult initally bcuz i dont know what ur capable of physically. I know COPD can be hard But what about something art related or beading? Supplies for that can be very cheap. Ive even picked up items from the dollarstore. I mean it does cost something but painting or coloring can be fun. I like those adult color books like the mandala ones. Just a few thoughts keep up the great work!
I’m not on the oxygen all the time now, just when I need it or when I’m asleep and my Sat’s are at 88% not good but better.
To be honest this was started as a humors topic to keep my spirits up, and I didn’t expect the response it would get or all the ideas or the good wishes.
The “must not cost anything” criteria is set in jelly not concreten; a small outlay isn’t a problem even if its on a regular basis. I used to do a lot of rope work with paracord and I still have all the tools and about 40 (just an educated guess ) lengths in a drawer in my office; so I might go back to doing that.
But the vigorous exercise is definitely out, I’m going to see a physiotherapist, who’s going to give me an exercise regime to keep me reasonably fit; it won’t be a lot but it will undoubtedly help.
Thank you for your reply as it reminded me of the paracord
My suggestion invovles cooking and trying new recipes. I mean ya gotta eat anyway, might as well put some effort into it. But, stay away from the addictive baked goods.
Well I’ve had nowt to eat for coming up 3 days so just the thought of food is a good idea.
But seriously if I’m not going to be running marathons (not that I ever did) I’m going to have to start eating sensibly, so finding new things to cook is a great idea, thank you
Arts and crafts are fun. I draw, paint, sculpt stuff w air dry clay & then paint it, anything DIY. People say they could never do art but it’s about having fun & if you look at art inspo online that helps get the creative juices flowing, and I usually use a reference too. You can start collecting something you like. I like collecting stuff from my favorite shows movies mainly video games tbh. Playing video games that arent annoyingly oversexualizing the female characters lol. Wicca is fun if u believe in energy. U could try photography. Having a plant or two is cool (Venus flytraps are an interesting plant to have imo and they are affordable) if you like music you could try making music. Or you could try making artistic videos. Poem writing. There’s simple lil instruments you can learn to play like the kalimba. Taking nice relaxing baths with peppermint EO (this will help u breathe a tiny bit at least temporarily) and Epsom salt. U could get bath bombs to make it fun (or make them it’s pretty simple) you could cook. You could join skillshare & try learning something new. Learn a new language on Duolingo. Learn to code. Read books (from mystery to self help books or skill books) I could go on and on lol sorry if this is super long! Good luck
Idk how much you’ll be able to do w it not costing absolutely anything however. I believe if you’re willing to spend money to smoke you should be willing to make that investment in yourself. And I’d say most distracting hobbies aren’t TOO expensive. Art definitely is affordable bc there’s so much bargain supplies. The dollar store is also a great place for crafting stuff.
Well Duolingo is free actually . Poem writing is free, video making can be free. And I think these 3 need no paraphernalia. You can learn any skill for free on YouTube basically . Learning is a good addiction to have imo
But what about something art related or beading? Supplies for that can be very cheap. Ive even picked up items from the dollarstore. I mean it does cost something but painting or coloring can be fun. I like those adult color books like the mandala ones. Just a few thoughts 
keep up the great work!
