The average smoker spends about 17 years of pure time with a cigarette over their lifetime. Not stretched across decades. But gathered into one continuous line. For 17 years, you stand in the wind. For 17 years, you hold the same thing in your fingers. For 17 years, you stare at one spot while something happens without you. This is time you will never get back. It is not recorded in vacations, not hidden in memories, not given to loved ones. It is simply smoked away. Imagine a person who lived five years less than you. Now imagine that inside you, these 17 years are hidden. They exist. They are yours. Only they are not lived. They are scattered as ash across thousands of streets, balconies, entryways. You can take them back. Not all at once. But every day you do not give to this habit returns a piece of you. The question is not how to quit. The question is how many more years you are willing to gift to standing in the wind.