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G’day NOPE

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Absolutely, Positively, NOOOPPPPEEE !!!!!!!!!!

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@notsmokinjo @Martian5 @jillar @Rozuki @Joe7 @DizzyD @Doreensfree Thank you all very much!!! The support I received on Quittrain during the initial days of my quit was very helpful. I really like the Nope pledge feature, that helped me as well. Still trying to think how to celebrate. I suppose I will watch a couple of movies. Cheers!!!

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@Tammy, @Ankush, @Redemption3 hope you and yours are all safe from Cyclone Fani. Keeping you all in my thoughts for today and the coming days.

NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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NOPE! Happy Friday, everybody!

Imagine job hunting and trying to mask the stench of stale smoke on your clothing and hair; slugging a capful of mouthwash; trying to scrub the yellow stains off your fingers. Not to mention having that nagging feeling in the back of your mind during a job interview of “when the hell is this going to end so I can run outside and have a smoke?” Without all that BS to worry about, the real, positive you can shine through. Undoubtedly, she’s the one who gets hired

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Congratulations @Ankush for being one month smoke free! Well done Ankush. That is the hardest month done and you have come through with flying colours. All month you have popped in to cheer on the rest of us with our anniversaries but this one is just for you. Make sure you do something special today as a reward for all your hard work it is an important part of the quit and rewiring your brain.

Gday NOPE starts my day C

Last night, long after I should have been asleep, I paced a few times in my home, craving sugar. Craving a cigarette, actually, but I told myself a hit of sugar would fix the craving. I have no junk food. I went to bed. Back up. I changed from my sleeping clothes to my street clothes, grabbed my purse and keys and headed for my car and the convenience store for cigarettes. I'd been watching a Jordan Peterson lecture earlier. He said that life is painful, messy,, and chaotic, and that to avoid as much pain and suffering as possible, one has to have an aim, a worthwhile goal. It is not the attainment of the goal that is important, it is the working toward the goal or aim. Once you get there, you have to set another. The point he made that stuck with me as I headed out the front door, was that any action that was not on the trajectory toward that worthwhile aim is a wrong action and guaranteed to cause pain. I'd made myself a schematic with one line pointing toward the aim of a productive life, and another line slanting downward toward disease, misery, and shortened years. Peterson's words and the visual of the schematic overrode the urge to smoke, and I went back inside and went to bed. Up again 15 minutes later, back in street clothes, going out to buy chocolate cake at the 24 hour grocery. Peterson's words echoed again, and back to bed. Tried to relax and fall asleep, I flashed on having bought a fudge brownie mix on sale to have on hand in case I was struggling with nicotine cravings. A substitution serotonin-generator for smoking powerful enough to break through cravings. Back out of bed, baked the brownies as I watched more Jordan Peterson, ate a brownie. Now relaxed and craving for both smoking and sugar gone. Awoke at 4:30 am at the insistence of my small dog, Sofia, who urgently wanted to go outside to pee and was hungry. Took her outside for a moment, gave her a small portion of her daily food, and crawled back to bed. Dreamed that I had been forced to return to work at my previous employer's. It was a high-pressure, low-paid, dirty job, sorting donations in a thrift store. I succumbed to smoking, sneaking outside, afraid they'd smell the smoke and I'd be in trouble. Awoke to the sound of the chimes of my alarm clock, feeling heavy from lack of enough sleep and saddened that I'd lapsed. The dream was so real, full color, the grass of the courtyard green, and I could feel the cold metal of the glass door frame as I tried to hold it open a crack as I smoked so that I could get back inside. After waking, it took some seconds to separate the dream from reality and a few minutes to dispel the low feeling that I'd failed again. Cheerier now, and ready for a new day. Peterson said in the same lecture,--citing Jung, I believe--that we are less in control of our behavior than we'd like to believe. After the trouble I've experienced staying quit, I feel the impact of his words. I believe it likely that I will lapse again because--in bipolar cycling--my perception of reality changes. Most of the time, I know the value of being quit. During the short but inevitable segment of despair that recurs every six weeks to three months, nihilism takes over and I become hostile to the nonsmoking voice in my head and take revenge by starting in again. I am hoping that I will gain enough wisdom from Peterson's lectures that maybe I can thwart self-destructive behavior and sustain a commitment. And that vigorous exercise will uplift my mood. Day at a time; craving at a time.

11 years. But for what I paid, they should have lasted forever. Hell I was going to leave them to my children

Yes, lazy days -- they can be so worthwhile. I enjoy them all the time now!!!

Whose got the key of the door never been 21 before

A little bit of info about me. I'm a mother of 5 married 29 years and smoked for 36 years. Never finding that "thing" to help me stay quit. But this time.....Its something different.....the whole process of this quit is different.....I'm loving it!!! To be free from this madness!!!! I was romancing being a nonsmoker and never achieving!!! IT DROVE ME CRAZY!! But this time(I'm dancing)....I think we have a winner. So that's my story for now. I plan on being a regular here. Thanks

Hi Queen B. Welcome here. This is a wonderful place to help support your quit. I had smoked for 42 years and tried many different ways to quit. I finally quit after finding the forum. You have the right thinking "Not One Puff Ever". The first couple of weeks are difficult but once the nicotine is out of the body, it is just a matter of changing your thinking. You will feel much more powerful as you gain control of your life and learn to handle your addiction. Stay on board, read as much as you can and reach out when you need us!

Hello All, I'm new to the community. My actual quit date is March 12, 2019. I was having trouble dealing with the quit so I began searching the web and came across this wonderful website, THANK YOU! It has helped me tremendously. I didn't post because I was getting a feel of how this all works. love it. I do anything, any way, and any how to never take another puff. Thanks for allowing me to join the community QueenB

Nope for the rest of the day...

Hi! I've been gone for a month or so. Living life. Loathing life. Loving life. All that jazz. During these months of living life and all that jazz, I lost my job - or rather - it lost me? Reduction in force. Workforce reduction. Position no longer needed. Blah blah yadda yadda. I have several months of severance and no job. In a haze, I ventured out to the pharmacy to get some headache remedy and some other sundries. The check out cashier was pleasant and engaging. We talked about the weather. Not the government (note the R.E.M. reference). I swiped my card. It was accepted. I still have funds. Yay! I looked past my new friend. I noticed all the packs of cigarettes. I saw my enemy; the yellow ones. Then, I felt the reality sink in. After hearing the news my job no longer existed...I did not think about smoking. I did not think about smoking. I did not think about NOT smoking. I did not think about anything having to do with smoking until I saw the packs. Then, I thought...good thing I don't smoke anymore, that crap is crazy expensive. And it is one less thing to worry about. Then, I thought...holy shit! I just lost my job and the thought of smoking never crossed my mind until I saw packs of cigs. Then, I thought...holy shit! I was not even tempted to buy any! No internal struggle, nothing, other than relief to not have to worry about it. Then, I thought...my Lust4Life took a hit but is still shining. So is yours.

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Yes, please stay safe Tammy, Ankush, and Redemption3. I know first hand how horrible hurricanes are. Take care.

Yes, hope all goes well -- please be safe!!!!

You've already started planning it? You need to make yourself know that smoking is not an option anymore. There are all sorts of other choices you can make, but smoking is no longer on the list. It will get easier but it takes time.

Hi all finally breaking fre a bit from my winter funk.....been back at running outside again and walking....need to reign my eating habits in a bit. I gained 9lbs need to lose it. How is everyone else doing? Now if it would warm up a bit and stop being grey and rainy so I can put my hottub up and enjoy outside. Lisa

Thank you abbynormal for this post. I had noted it in my journal (this was before I joined the forum) because I'm not good at dealing with stress and that was always my excuse for smoking again. You've proven no matter what, stress can be handled without smoking. I will keep coming back to this thread. I'm sorry about your friend and the difficult health issues you continue to face yourself. But you can be proud you're doing it without smoking and that you're helping more people than you realize by sharing your quit story.

Thank you Doreensfree for this post! It and all the responses have helped me more than you know to get immediately back on the right track and take my seat on the Train.

Loosing an income source is horrible. Happy to know that you didn't think of smoking!!!

Hey L4L, good that you wrote that down. These are the memorable moments, important part of out quits. It shows how far youve come in cutting ties with addiction. And isnt it absurd how strong reactions to these images are, seeing a pack and instantly wanting one? Good thing is, that effect will diminish over time as well. Than its just a pack of cigarettes, without meaning. I whish you the best in dealing with the job loss and the hunt for something new!

Not only does smoking not help with stress, addiction and withdrawal compound stress. Smoking does not offer you one positive thing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.