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I love to write, it is one of my passions and sometimes, it get's the mental neurons firing and course correcting. That's why there is power on these boards because as we help someone else up, or write down a ton of confusing feelings, or acknowledge that today is hard but yesterday was good, we start to straighten out our thought processes. Because some of you know but others don't, my life was somewhat complicated 14/15 months ago when I quit smoking. I had many pressures and few answers and the folk here helped me to quit but also to analyse what was working and what was not. I will be eternally greatful that in hindsight, there were no judgements....of quit techniques which were fairly sketchy or of personality types. This site and the people on it, accepted me for what I was and it meant I kept my quit, for them, when I didn't feel strong enough that moment. A lot is spoken of people who are slightly different and it feels like the world salutes that, apart from if your different is spiritual. Then the world gurns at you and stands back to make sure you are safe! Well I got none of that here and this sensation of being free...combined with safe brought me out of myself. I quit, of course, but I also grew. I will stop here to thank you for the inner strength I gained through calling you my friends. If you knew how safe I had played my past you would know who I have become is in no small part a revelation. This is not exclusive to me however. You guys and I will support everyone who comes through. Some support is gentle, some is really real, a couple are bordering on crazy but the heart of here is amazing. We all have the same end goal, grow and quit. I move forward in a new way of being and with new values. And I attribute no small part of that to my quit and having to grow into who I was supposed to be as I often feel we hide behind smoking. But also seeing people here every day, grow into who they were meant to be. It has given me strength to take this journey in tandem with others. I don't think we just quit smoking, I think we embrace a new way to be, or in actuality, who we were always supposed to be. I think there is strength in the quit from hour 1 to whatever number will be. So in case you wondered. My life is AMAZING and I attribute that to the support I got here as much as quitting smoking. This may make no sense to you but I felt like I should write somewhere that I am finally happy. I wake in the morning and smile. I go to sleep and smile. I sat saying to my Chris the other day, I feel as if I am free to be myself and I am honestly so happy I might burst. So for anyone who wondered how my story ended...it has just begun :) Ok I was always going to go deeper then the average bod would - but quitting can be a transformational life tool. Much love QT'ers. xx

Nothing exploded. I gave up smoking and stuff carried on as normal, the world didn't blow up nor did I fall over and curl into a ball - things carried on. Stuff still happened that annoyed me, stuff still happened that made me happy and I dealt with that stuff - stuff is easy without smoke, you find a way in the end. It's almost 3 months for me after 25 years of smoking, the most annoying thing about the quit is that I didn't do it sooner. I'm not talking about those half arsed quits, you know the ones that smokers do, bit like a game. I mean a real quit - why didn't I reach this frame of mind before. Sure, I'm a little jagged around the edges, a bit raw, but you know what it's kinda nice not to be numb to the world. So if you have stumbled across these few words and are thinking about stopping smoking, then do it - it really is that simple and only you can make the choice. Your first step to taking control is making that decision.

Thanks for this post. I always felt like that one of the reasons my quits were unsuccessful was because I am not motivated to quit by health, family and money. I am physically and emotional tired of the control that cigarettes have over me.