Every year, members of the About.com Smoking Cessation support forum share those things they're most grateful for since quitting tobacco. From better health to a improved self-esteem, smoking cessation is a gift beyond compare.

Giving Thanks 2008

"I'm thankful for the chance to slow my COPD. If I were still smoking, I might be on O2 continually. The pride and thankfulness I feel by taking control are tremendous." ~Gaylene~

"I am so thankful to be free of cigarettes and to be a non-smoker. My life is so simple now compared to the way it was, always trying to find a place to smoke and hiding behind the smoke." ~AnotherLinda~

"I am thankful that I found this forum. I feel that I have the tools to get it right this time. I am thankful that I am young and active and the world just seems better to me when I am not smoking." ~LBV to the D~

"I am grateful that I found this wonderful forum, and friendship to lift me up and carry me if that was needed, it gave me the strength to be free from the wheezing, yellow skinned, yellow nailed, yellow toothed person that I was." ~Nathansnanny~

"I am thankful that I was welcomed to this forum even though I live thousands of miles away from you all. Quitting knows no boundaries or borders as I soon learned." ~UKQuitter~

"I am thankful that just over a year ago I found this forum, the wonderful people who are part of it, and started my journey as a non-smoker. I can now breathe, smell things and stop to enjoy it. I'm thankful for life and grateful for life!" ~Tonya~

"I'm thankful to be able to laugh again without worrying if it will bring on my asthma symptoms; I am thankful that when I wake up in the morning, my chest doesn't hurt; I am thankful that within just a couple days of my quit, I have not had to use an inhaler or any asthma medication." ~Cap'n~

"I'm thankful for the feeling of freedom, peace and empowerment quitting tobacco has given me, and I know it is going to get better with time. I can breathe and have more energy, plus much more." ~Dar~

"I am thankful that I don't have to plan when my next cigarette break is. There are many other more important things in life -- the most important being my family. I am thankful that I will be here for them." ~Robin~

"I'm thankful for finally finding the courage to try once again to quit smoking and I will be eternally grateful for the support I have found on this forum. I never knew that a group of strangers could feel like best friends who I have known for years and who never hesitate to offer compassion and friendship." ~Deb~

"I am thankful to have a successful quit -- which I owe much to this site. Everyone here has been so helpful!" ~Becky~

"I am thankful that so many things came together in my life that finally allowed me to try to quit after so many years of smoking. Before this, I never even tried. I am thankful for the education, support, and friendship I have found here. Thanksgiving Day, November 27, will be my three-month smoke-free anniversary!" ~Nenejune~

"I am thankful to be smoke-free today and to have the confidence to tackle my holiday jitters without depending on nicotine to be my substitute backbone. I have restored my dignity and boosted my self-esteem 1000% percent." ~Trish~

"I am thankful that I made it through another year with such great friends. I am also thankful that the Lord is still using me as an instrument of inspiration, even though I am not available due to health as often as I would like to be." ~Jacki~

"This Thanksgiving, I'm grateful that the Life Saved section of my quit meter reads...49 weeks, 3 days, 12 hours, 25 minutes. Nearly a whole year...to enjoy time with my family and friends and to be grateful...always grateful...for all of it." ~Mic~

"I am thankful for today! I am here, healthy, alive and feeling strong. I am thankful for my family who have stood by me and encouraged me to quit smoking. I didn't think I had the courage to do it!" ~Sheba~

"Last year around Thanksgiving I lost my uncle due to an aneurysm. He also had heart disease -- he was a smoker. This year I so thankful! that I get to hug my family and hold them tight with the cheer of being a non-smoker." ~Audra~

"I'm thankful that my computer screen isn't yellow. I'm thankful that I can walk and climb stars, and work without coughing and wheezing. I'm thankful for feeling ten years younger, while growing four years older since I quit smoking!" ~Deb~

"I am so thankful and grateful to be free -- to truly feel free from the chains of nicotine addiction. Along with that is thanks for improved self esteem." ~Mary~

"I am grateful to have had the strength and courage to continue this journey to freedom. To look in my mother's proud eyes and know she will never be burying a daughter with the thought if she had only quit smoking, or my daughter looks older than I do." ~Isabel~

"On August 17th, we learned that our middle son, Joey (10), has leukemia. We thought that he had a bruised rib and I was actually irritated with my husband for taking him to the Urgent Care at our HMO on a beautiful Sunday at the end of summer.

Well, that trip was the first of many miracles that have happened; the pediatric doctor on call was a pediatric oncologist and once he felt Joey's enlarged spleen and saw a preliminary blood count (the center's machine couldn't measure a white blood count as high as Joe's) he sent us to Children's in Washington, D.C. While Joey's prognosis is excellent, he is a high risk case for many reasons, so I'm on long term, unpaid leave from teaching while we deal with chemotherapy, radiation, and all the associated side effects.

"I can't count the number of times I have thanked God that I already had smoking far, far behind me. I spent 4 days in the Pediatric ICU at Children's National Medical Center; imagine if I had wanted to go outside and smoke? Imagine that. I see parents outside smoking all the time and then going in to be with their children who have heart disease and cancer. The irony.

"If you haven't quit smoking yet, quit. Now. Do it now before you are sorry you hadn't gotten this done yet. If you've already quit, Thank God everyday that you have." ~Margaret~

Don't waste another day of your precious life on a habit that will kill you given the chance. Quit now.