I quit smoking

I quit smoking cigarettes about four years ago. Slowly and by many intermediate steps I finally quit tobacco altogether and any other flavor of nicotine product. Today I can say something like "free at last" or "I kicked the habit" or myriad other cliches. The fact remains: I quit a habit that the CDC names as the number one killer in the United States.

Instead I choose everyday to expose myself to the CDC's #3 killer. If not dying was my chief concern with smoking, I wonder what the reaction would be if I said to my wife, "Honey, I have decided I am going to kick the habit--I am walking everywhere I go." I am sure after the glowing images of me losing 50 pounds cleared her mind she would say, "you're crazy." Indeed, I would be crazy. The town where I live is so remote from my daily functions that I burn through the equivalent of the carton of cigarettes in about the same time. Not to mention the fact that my main thoroughfare is fondly referred to as the "DIEWAY." I am still not sure if that is because people drive 75 MPH on a highway that has turning lanes, or if the level of daily commuters crafts soldiers of road rage where even the grannies are "packing heat." Anyway, the problem is that I cannot walk.

I made this observation tonight when I saw a T-Bone in the middle of the DIEWAY. I said to my wife, I believe that one day we can live in a community where 90% of our daily necessities are within walking distance. Now that sounds a bit corny, a bit idealistic, and a little too warm and fuzzy. Just like quitting smoking I think that realizing community is the art of intent. Choice driven living that sometimes opts for a lower paying job, or sometimes means that we pay more for our groceries. The totality of living in community means for one thing making it through the tough part of relationship and learning to live with each other and near each other. But perhaps the hardest part is giving up that drive after a good meal or a cup of coffee.