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G’day NOPE I don’t smoke/smoulder/burst into flames

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NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!! And everyone have a great turkey day!!

Getting ready for an interesting night. A cousin of mine that lives in Texas now is back in the area for Thanksgiving. I said "we should get together while you're back in the old stomping grounds." He took it as an opportunity to invite himself to the house. He said: "you live up in the mountains now don't you?" All I could think was: Oh shit, I hope he's not on the lam and looking for a place to hide. Every family has one...

NOPE Happy Thanksgiving.

Congratulations Jo on another year quit! I hope you're planning something special for yourself today and feeling better, xoxo

Too stressful? Come here and post about it to get it off your chest.

No need to delete the post. The holidays can be a stressful time and it is good to have a lot of information about keeping the quit during them. It sounds simple but really NOPE is the way to go. Make sure that you realize that nothing is worth blowing a quit over and do whatever you need to keep your quit and never taking another puff. It may involve avoiding alcohol if you are in stressful situations where drinks are available. I would definitely advise this early on in your quit. It may involve going into gatherings with relatives that you know you clash with by having the attitude that nothing they will do will lead you to smoking. You will not let them have that control over you. Families are a beautiful but stressful thing. Most of my family is somewhat normal but there are plenty of clashes and alliances when the whole family gets together. The one group that really stresses me out is one set of grandparents that are in their early 90's but have always been very manipulate, controlling, and deceitful. I had a big falling out with them a few months into my quit and I thought really hard about lighting up. I decided that I was not going to let them have that type of control over me. In fact, I was so angry with them that I refused to let the have that control over me. If there are relatives that go out of their way to piss you off, use that anger and stress to strengthen your quit. Promise yourself that you will not let them have that control over you. Quitting smoking is all about gaining control of your life back anyway.

At the radiology dept. In the hospital. Morrigun's bruise has gotten worse over days so after a visit to the gp we have been sent to the hospital right away..so keeping fingers crossed it's nothing bad.. Update: nothing broken! We will hear the rest tomorrow

I am really happy the addict and I are on a total different page - while it grabbed the perfect opportunity to shine, I took the moment after to reclibrate. And I think I profitted from the fact I had a firm quit and could grab back to it immediatly. Learn from this, let every day weigh in and do it right from day one. Build strenghth and keep that momentum going even if you run into the addiction wall. The foundation needs to be sturdy. Build a foundation at first, a house after and a castle with a working defence system over time.. Anyway.. stay positive!

Nope!

NOPE...

NOPE

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

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

Nothing, Nobody, No situation, No cray, Not even my inner addict is going to overpower me and bring a cigarette to my lips ever again. Those days are OVER. I Don't Smoke. Clothe yourselves in the armor of NOPE and celebrate your Freedom. When family gets too much, go outside and breathe your beautiful clean breaths.

NOPE!

Good job

Wow, congratulations on 2 years smoke free, Jo. Thanks for all the support you have given others and for all the fun that you add to this place. Do something big to celebrate today.

YAY YAY YAY ! Our beautiful Jo has TWO Years of Freedom to celebrate. This is so great. Hope this brings you some JOY today. You are an important voice here, Jo. Your advice and suggestions are always right on and the fun you bring is nonpareil. Thanks so much for giving us your heart and time. Love you, bebe, S

I 'liked' this post and would like to explain. Take the 'you' out of it and put in 'The Addict', it reads, 'The crash was incidental/inconsequential to The Addict's relapse. The Addict was already looking for an excuse to smoke...and The Addict found it.' This relates to all of us because we are all The Addict. As I posted in another thread, "When something dramatic/traumatic happens in our life, the addict's conditioned response may well be to grab a cigarette. We must stay SUPER alert during these times, even with a well established quit. Addiction will always seek a way to serve itself, ALWAYS...that is the nature of addiction." This is what I have learned. Ms.V has quit smoking, committed to her quit and thankfully the calamity is over. Please, let us all support her and move on, perhaps learn yet another valuable lesson about addiction.

Happy birthday Tina

Thinking about the upcoming rain they say we're getting starting night. First significant rain since May and they're calling for one to two inches Hopefully just enough to put out the Cave fire that started Monday night about 40 miles south of me but not enough to cause flooding...

Tina Turner's 80th Birthday today, Born in Nutbush, Tennessee. Here is a song she wrote

Nope

The holidays can be a stressful time, especially for newer quitters trying desperately to hold onto their precious quits. I am about to face my first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year as a non-smoker, and I'm planning ahead in order to STAY a non-smoker! The following article has some great tips for surviving the holidays smoke-free: https://www.verywellmind.com/smoke-free-holiday-tips-2824909 My biggest trigger during the holidays is sensory overload from all the noise and chaos of family gatherings, so I plan to find a quiet space for myself any time I feel overwhelmed and do some deep breathing exercises. I also plan to avoid the front porch, where the smokers in the family will gather. I'm going to stay inside where it's warm! How do you plan to handle your triggers during the holidays? Long-time quitters, what advice would you give us newbies on keeping our quits during the holiday season?

Have a great trip, Roz

NOPE...

The rain worked on the Cave fire and firefighters are being demobilized! Yippee!!!

Ok, i just saw this post after making a very similar post! Now I feel dumb! LOL

Good ol' Ozzie Loony Bird is a bona-fide quit veteran. Way to go Jo. Two years is a big deal. We all chipped in and got you a floaty chair for the lido deck pool...

What a great thing to be celebrating Jo (without an e-pendage)!!!! Huge congratulations on your second year quit! I feel lucky to have been able to share the past 2 years of this journey with you. Your contributions have been amazing. Very well done Jo!

NOPE

Jo - you are awesome!!! Congratz!!!!

I'm so glad nothing's broken @Vivianne, I know I was pretty bruised up after my accident too. Big hugs to Morrigun, xoxo In other news, it rained good last night, poured at times even Waiting for an update to see what kind of a dent it made on the Cave fire.

Love that , she will soon be able to do this !

How can you not Nope after such words so ... Nope

NOPE!!

Turning a negative into a positive...love this post.

There is tough love and there is kicking a dog when it's down (not saying your a dog @Vivianne, promise)...one is harsh but constructive and one is just sadistic and cruel...I think sometimes the message gets lost when the delivery is unnecessarily nasty and hurtful.. from the outside looking in sometimes the hardline advice comes across as being more about the person delivery getting a sactemonious ego boost than offering anything to help or support another. @Vivianne...you know you frucked up your quit...you had the balls to share this fact and you got straight back into a new quit. Publicly making yourself accountable shows you are serious about doing this.

Woohoo...I'm on the board.

And we have a winner! Congratz Jo! Saz: 2 Boo: 1 Jo: 1

NOPE

I have so much blog material at the moment. But this is one I find myself going back to today. It is so hard to be honest about addiction, not just to the outside world, but to yourself. Being critical, not scared of the cold hard truth. The courage to look yourself in the eye and explore that impulse emotion when someone calls the addiction by it's name. I posted about my relapse last night. And I found the support overwhelming, and I thank all of you that had my back. I could've said nothing. I could've forgiven myself and just leave it at that. -Which is so not me btw- BUT I think it's REALLY important for people who are quitting and haven't experienced the crisis I had this weekend, to know about this, so they can come up with a plan! AND ! BE HONEST! I did have a plan for crisis situations, when the fish tank broke down and my living room was covered with an inch of water, I knew what to do, cause I have been in such a situation before. I posted a &^@^# on the forum and I called a few friends to help me through the chaos. This crash was a new experience all together. And for everyone that have no experience in that kind of crisis it's hard enough to keep your head together and come up with something on the spot. Autistic crisis means "new" = *flat-line*= no plan.. nothing besides the chaos and sounds, feelings, lights, voices (that you can't decipher while they are definitely speak the same language as you right?) and all are dumped on a brain that just cannot process it .. I had a complete meltdown on the street and the cops had to call my crisis coach who came but couldn't stay the night (which is understandable). In other somewhat similar crisis modes when I didn't have a coach yet or when I couldn't get in contact with my coach, I went over to my neighbour a few houses down the street. She is an autism coach - not mine- and knows how to calm me down. And her door is always open even if it's 5 am in the morning. Now on to the solution! Because all of the above is just background information and "the why" is not that important. The "How to move on" is. My first thought was: " I have to be honest about it. I have to confess, not sugarcoat it, not sweep it under the rug." This will prevent: Shame - I don't know about you guys, but I HATE lying, I can't even.. I will say the most stupid things to people, which are true, but not really appropriate at that time. I have tried to train this, but it gives me more stress than necessary. So it's what you see is what you get with me. So IF I decided to withhold this information, I will be ashamed and that would prevent me from getting the right help. So BE HONEST! Junky thoughts getting a hold on me - If I not fess up to this, my Junky-me will be stronger next time this presents it self. And not the relapse it self, but the chance to actually relapse becomes bigger. If I could lie then, why not..... BE HONEST! Putting a new plan into place: Make a list of every smoker I know and TELL them. Don't try to be the lone bad ass wolf that defies the nicotine on her own when being with these people. (And yes, I should've told her a few weeks back when I ran in to her at the grocery store that I quit smoking - that is all on me! ) Asking for help with this list cause this is all I can come up with now

Holiday Related Resources

Fantastic Jo , your quit inspires us newbies

Omfg...I know this trucker.... It's the fruckin chorus

NOPE

Thanksgiving...a time to give thanks and be grateful. Also a time to eat way too much of Mom's homemade banana pudding. I'm eating for two this year!