By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Forgive the boastfulness of this post … but I just gotta share it.

Forty-one years ago I made one of the more profound decisions of my life. It doesn’t rank with marrying my wife, which resulted in the family we produced together. But it’s a biggie.

I quit smoking cold turkey. The decision came actually on Feb. 2, 1980, a date which I marked silently a couple of days ago.

Smoking had placed my health in jeopardy. I had developed a “smoker’s cough,” which isn’t surprising in that I was incinerating two packs of smokes each day.

I awoke on Feb. 2, 1980, lit up cigarette, took a drag on it and choked. I had been suffering a cold, with a sore throat, snotty nose and a cough.

I crumpled up the cigarette and the pack from which I took it. Tossed it all in the trash. And never looked back.

It turned out over time that quitting cold turkey was easier than I thought. I had tried to quit before. I would go a few weeks, or months, without lighting up. Then something would happen. I would stress out. Gotta have a cigarette! So then I would fire one up. That did it.

Not this time! I quit cold turkey and learned a lesson that I share with others who tell me they are “thinking about quitting.” 

It is this: Do not “think” about quitting. Just do it. Now! Do not wait until the weekend, or when you finish the pack you’re smoking, or after your next meal. Just quit!

Take my word for this bit of reality: If shedding a nasty habit in that manner can pay off for someone like me — an individual who has abandoned countless unfinished tasks along my life journey — then anyone can do it.