I started smoking when i was 15 , my mother smoked , grandparents , etc etc i thought it was so cool , so adult . I ended up smoking a pack and a half a day for eighteen years .along the way i tried to quit many times , ive tried the gum , the patch , even just sheer will , and i wasnt strong enough . Near the end , i would wake up to my new morning routine of coughing so very violently that i would spend the rest of the day with a headache . I was scared that something larger was at work here , i feared that i had damaged my lungs to the point of no return . I felt helpless , already warned by the coronary disease that runs in my family , the circulation problems i was having in my hands it still didnt deter me from smoking . In 2012 , i found out i was going to be a father , to show my wife support (also a smoker ) i quit when she did , it lasted about 2 weeks , not only was i let down by my inability to stand tough and show support to my wife , i had also started using other tobacco products like dip and snuff fooling myself into believing it made things easier . I knew i didnt want to smoke or even smell like smoke around my daughter , but felt so powerless . I had a friend at a popular weekly podcast who was always talking about his ecig and how it worked for him , so 3weeks before my daughter was born my wife bought me a starter kit available at most liquor stores .though it was a very basic kit , it took one puff to know that it was a very viable substitue , not perfect , but viable . The concern i initially had was the cost , it was a very expensive system to keep purchasing prefilled cartridges for . So with a little research i jumped into the world of medium level ? Vaping , tanks and cartos and such . within 2 weeks my morning coughing fits were gone , in 2months i noticed my lungs were clearer and my numbness in my hands was gone . In 6 months my sense of smell came back so hard that while driving on the freeway i was thinking i was having car trouble , i wasnt , i now was able to smell that a car somewhere in front of me was haha . In december , it will be 2 years since ive quit smoking , i have taken a drag on a cig just to try and figure out what the big deal was for me , and it tastes vile , being in close quarters with my coworkers who still smoke just blows me away that i used to smell like that , and had no idea. Ive lowered my nicotine level to 6mg and really could put the vaping thing down with ease , sometimes going many many hours without it , and while i did have thoughts of my charliegirl pushing me not to fail this time , i mean it , I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN STRONG ENOUGH TO QUIT SMOKING WITHOUT VAPING , AND WITH THE WAY MY HEALTH WAS GOING , I MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN HERE TODAY . I feel , my way of giving back to the community of vaping , is to help educate my friends and family that are interested in becoming an ex smoker through vaping . I truly feel that every little bit of knowledge i can hand out just might be saving a life , at the very least changing it so much for the better . Thank you .