IT'S A SIGN! Seriously, I think it must be because I hadn't looked at the date on your original post so I didn't realise it was 2009. Well done, getting back on the health path for 30 days! Fantastic.

As a word of warning, I've heard over and over again that recidivism makes it harder and harder to quit each time. We hear that on the forums about weight loss and low carb too - that it's actually easier to stick with it until the cravings go than to fall off the wagon and start again. Now you have an entire month under your belt, you are well on your way to never even thinking about a cigarette again - just stick with it long enough. I absolutely guarantee without reservation that the cravings and desire and dependence will go away. You only have to give it enough time.

I believe it is exactly the same kind of addiction as alcoholism. Whereas an ex-alcoholic cannot take even one sip of one glass of alcohol, even out of curiosity, without re-enforcing the desire, so too an ex-smoker cannot try even one puff of one cigarette without setting the mechanism in motion again to get hooked.

Tips that helped me: Sipping water through a straw constantly all day gave my hands something to do and provided "oral satisfaction", so to speak, LOL. Another VERY helpful tip was that all habitual cravings go away after 3 minutes whether you give in to them or not. I found that to be true. When I thought about having a smoke I'd tell myself to wait 3 minutes. Every time the craving went away. At first it would come back again quickly and I'd wait another 3 minutes. Then the cravings became further and further apart until they disappeared. I call it "The 3 Minute Rule" and it works!

Regarding your lungs: obviously you have every reason to worry. But here's another great thing, and forgive me if you already know - the lungs start repairing themselves immediately you stop smoking and if you give it enough time they can repair completely so there is no difference between the lungs of an ex-smoker and a never-smoker. What an amazing gift to take advantage of.

If you have any questions I'd be glad to help. Sorry for the long post. I hope it wasn't too boring.

Again - good luck, you can definitely do this and you are not alone - every ex-smoker in the world wants you to succeed!