Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.

It's been a stressful week. There have been a lot of cigarettes involved.

What would I do if I was stressed out and couldn't smoke? I once lived with a recovering alcoholic and noticed that among his AA friends almost everybody had replaced their addiction to alcohol with an addiction to something else. For many it was smoking, coffee was also popular, and some were sugar freaks. Or some combination of the above. I remember having a movie night with a bunch of the guys and we went to 7-11 beforehand and picked up an obscene amount of candy and ice cream.

I've tried to quit before, and I've had varying degrees of success. The first time my parents found out I legitimately tried to quit, and did for about three months. Until finals started. There was just no way, especially with my tendency towards procrastination, that I could make it through those agonizing few weeks without smoking. It's stress that makes me need a cigarette. Other times, it's certainly enjoyable, but a stressful situation makes me pick up and light a cigarette without even thinking about it.

So however long I've stopped for, if something stressful enough happens nothing will stop me from smoking a cigarette. It's a very intense feeling of focus, like there may be other things to think about but they don't really matter until I have a cigarette. I can't really think about anything else until I have a cigarette. Once the idea has hatched in my mind, it's hard to stop it.

And I'm pretty sure there are always going to be stressful situations.