SorryImLate

This answer makes me sad.

I believe you that you know more about the health impacts of smoking than non-smokers. I noticed you didn’t say it was healthy but only that your

body will be fine for as long as it needs to be.

My dad smoked from age 17 to 84. His body was fine for a long time.

However, he really suffered for the last decade between the emphysema and the cancer. The last 3 years in particular were awful.

The cancer wasn’t even that advanced when it was first diagnosed but no-one was willing to operate because of his lungs (general anaesthesia was basically a death sentence). Eventually it metastasised.

He suffered but it wasn’t killing him. I remember one particularly bad emphysema attack near the end, where he couldn’t get air, and he was literally begging to just die. Eventually he shot himself. He held out as long as he could for the sake of our family, especially his grandchildren, but he really didn’t want to die in the hospital.

I know exactly how addictive smoking is. My brothers watched my dad suffer and still they can’t quit. My dad couldn’t quit and he was the one suffering.

So, this comment is not intended as a lecture or advice or recrimination. It’s just a story about a wonderful man with a horrendous addiction. I tell it in the hope that it might be one more nudge to help you finally beat your addiction. Wishing you all the best.

I believe you. I’m saddened watching the news out of America as an outsider, and I don’t have your emotional attachment to the country.

If I was in your position, I can imagine I would be grieving right now. Grieving the loss of who and what you believed America stands for, grieving your lost confidence in your fellow Americans, grieving the future you hoped for and no longer see, grieving the loss of that part of your identity which used to be proud to be American. These are not minor things to grapple with, and the grieving process hurts. Leaving America won’t make that hurt go away though.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve moved countries twice now, and I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderful experience. However, it’s also a very stressful thing to do, so only do it to move somewhere that you are excited about going to. Important is the “to”, not the “from”. It’s a bit like moving in with a new partner, you’re going to need those “honeymoon period” feelings to get you through the initial challenges 😄

You sound as if you’re having a depressive episode. I recognise it because I struggle with depression.

Depression is usually a reaction to real issues. The problem comes in when your psyche becomes overly focused on the negative aspects of your life, and can’t fairly value the positive aspects. Think of it as seeing life through a grey veil, except your brain lies to you and tells you this is what’s really true, and that before you were looking at life through rose-coloured glasses. It’s not true.

1. Please get help.
2. It get’s better, I promise.
3. Moving countries will not fix your depression - no need to ask me how I know :/ Wherever you go, you will be taking yourself with, so look after yourself please.
4. The rest of the world knows it’s not all Americans. The people that matter don’t think less of you just because you’re American, they judge you based on your own choices. The kind of people who judge you by your nationality are the same kind of intolerant fools that MAGA attracts.
5. America has problems but is still better than many places. The issue is less the absolute reality and more the relative change. How America is today is worse than it was but still better than many places ever were.

Sending you hugs.

The primary accent for 2-syllable words that are used as both a noun and a verb depends on the part of speech. The noun places the primary accent on the 1st syllable, the verb on the 2nd syllable.

Examples:
The musician records a record.
The farmer produces produce.
You’re not permitted to fish without a permit.