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G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min,Hour, Day as required)

NOPE…

Hi All I’ve not been on here for ages. I just stopped feeling the need for the great support work you all do. I thought I would pop back just to say it was recently 5 years since I quit and it is in part down to the support of you. So thank you very much and keep on keeping on XX

NOPE

I had a house full of relatives with the obligatory sight seeing trips from Friday - Monday and follow up medical tests today. Found myself trying to sneak outside to smoke more than once. Instead, I just snuck outside (without lighting anything on fire) to take a quick break or two.

NOPE!

It's got to be NOPE again.

Nope

NOPE

It helps me, mentally, to have passed through triggers (weekend away, house full of relatives, medical procedures, getting sick) without dropping everything and running to the convenience store for smokes. I owe most of my success (so far) to a combination of this website and all of you, Joel Spitzer's videos, and stop smoking self-hypnosis (youtube) and pretzels. Lots of pretzels.

Very happy for you FM, way to go!

Good job staying quit @Jack1664! Best gift we could give ourselves and worth protecting; that's for sure

Testing. Testing. One. Two. Can you hear me now? Been dealing with a complete system shut down all morning. So...fun times! In case of further technological meltdowns, I will be communicating via smoke signal from now on. I have no idea how that's going to work on windy days but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

NOPE!

I am 5 years without a smoke now, I thought I pass by the station to congratulate all of you, and myself, for quitting. You can make it, yes, YOU!

That's great news @FunkyMonkey, YOU ARE DOING SO WELL!

Thanks for touching base, @Jack1664. It’s great to hear from folks with strong quits!

Hi @Jack1664, Congratulations on five years quit! We love when members check in and let us know how they are so thank you for that

Don't forget your go to night communication device!

Well done, @Grund! Congratulations on 5 years smoke free!

Nope!

Congratulations @Grund, on five years quit! Its good to see you

Unfortunately, the wife didn't display that attribute when I bought her a vacuum cleaner for Christmas one year

I've heard the "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" but never one about a snake. Must be a Canadian thing?

Same reason you don't look a snake in the mouth

And if they fail ....there,s always ....

Hi @Jack1664...I remember you .... So great to hear you are celebrating 5 years free...Thank you for sharing this with us ...

NOPE - Not One Puff Ever

Cos Aussies do it better...

Congratulations on such a phenomenal quit

5 years later: NOPE!!

I tried the same thing. Thought I could only have a couple a day and it did work for the most part BUT it never lasted long. A couple drinks or stress and give me a smoke. Spent a very large part of my life fooling myself. I am addicted and that is that. Almost six years since I last smoked and I imagine if I smoked one now within a few weeks I would be doing some smoking everyday. Sorry you lost the quit but start up again. Your better for having quit that long but you realize the power of the addiction now. best wishes and welcome aboard.

a social smoker is just a full time smoker in training

Great Post Dave .... When we stop falling into the Smokers Trap ..is when we free ourselves .

Not one puff ever!

Oh just fell down a Billy Thorpe rabbit hole.... he never got bad with age and propped up all his contemporaries when they fell on hard times...

G’day Had forty years of that experience. I was always telling myself I was different I was strong enough and smart enough to be a social smoker. Smart and in control.BS. Really. How many times had I quit? Too bloody many that’s for sure. And I’d spend years between quits and do it all again. I’d bore you …?some were days some were weeks .. same results. Finally I figured that I needed something different That something for me was N.O.P.E. Not One Puff Ever. That’s not something I told someone else. It was something I told myself. Admitted to me. Me. And me only. Me…Im an addict. Yep. I am only 1 puff away from 20 cigs (plus?) a day. I can not ever fool myself I’m really that addict. By the way….. thanks …. Really. Thanks for reminding me …… I don’t want to ever forget. Not One Puff Ever for me. Every day.

We all have our ( special drinking vessel ) ...I'm with you Maddie

Online shopping for sippy cups. My two year-old daughter got a new sippy cup this week. Now, it's the only sippy cup that will suffice. She doesn't want to drink from anything else. She likes apple juice and gets it as a treat. Unless the juice is in the wrong cup, then all bets are off. Toddlers dig in their heels and get stubborn over the weirdest things. Wishing safe travels to the FedEx driver out there who's job it is to deliver these cups to the house.

I was the opposite @FunkyMonkey, I would have my worst craves when I was happy or celebrating something but fine when I was mad or sad. I used my air cigarette during those times....

It was my 6-month anniversary this week, so it seems like a good time to take stock of what it’s like at this stage of my quitting journey. I still have to fight hard to stay quit, but I have a growing appreciation for the end results. I have freedom. I breathe better. I smell better. (At least when I bathe ) Smoking is not an active conflict with my partner. I have reduced the odds of a preventable disease making me a burden to others. I have more money in my pocket. All good. All expected. I’m also learning some things I didn't expect. The addiction created all kinds of illusions and blind spots in my brain. Now that I’ve quit, I can see some things more clearly. Like… … As a smoker, I could not fully comprehend how deeply in thrall I was to nicotine. I knew that smoking regulated how I spent my time and money. But I had no clue how unhappy it was making me, and how deeply it was undercutting my self-regard. I now see how soul-sucking the constant tension of loving/hating smoking was. I’m surprised that intensity of cognitive dissonance didn’t cause a stroke all by itself. No more! … Being a smoker weirdly paralyzed my capacity for self-care. I had a terrible resistance to exercise, seeing doctors, taking time off, etc. I was basically a smoking + working + smoking + working machine. I knew that I was stuck in that rut, but I didn’t realize that smoking was the glue. Now that I’ve quit, I am incrementally beginning to take care of myself in other ways. Seeing doctors, going to bed at a decent hour, staying active and speaking up for what I need are getting a smidge easier. … As a smoker, I was very isolated. I was not a secret smoker, but it was a way that I withdrew from others and put up walls. This Quit Train community broke through those walls. I get and give support from people who understand what quitting is like. I learn so much when you share your experiences. I get distraction from the desire to smoke. You all are hilarious, I often chuckle, and sometimes I howl out loud. Who knew I had people, a tribe?! I didn’t before, but I do now. I treasure all you generous, quirky, fallible, funny, perplexing, lovely humans in this community. ...In my early days after I stopped smoking, I thought that quitting was about NOT doing something (i.e. smoking). Turns out that was backwards. My experience now is that quitting smoking is very much about DOING something: recovering from addiction. Protecting my quit takes active effort. It's like part of my brain is still programmed to be a smoker and I have to re-load my quit into active memory a bunch of times each day. Day 180 is definitely easier than day 18. I must confess, though, that some moments are still a major struggle. I do hope it gets easier. What lies ahead? If anyone has perspectives on what they experienced in months 6-12, I'd love to hear them!

What a great honest post @DenaliBlues....we can read and see just how far you have come ... Yes the next six months is carrying on doing much of the same thing ....but you will feel stronger and stronger . By the time you Reach your Lido Party ..the days of struggling will hopefully be few ... I Remember I was about 6 months in ,and some guy stopped me on the street and asked if I had a light ... holding a cigarette ..I still remember that loud moment when I said calmly ... No sorry I don't smoke ... I came to the forum bragging my head off.... I'm always say ..those lucky quitters who find themselves here are blessed ... This place is Magic ...you belong here ...

Great post @DenaliBlues As Jill said, months 6-12 is a lot of the same thing you have been doing. Yes, it does get easier and you definitely see that. Still, as a longtime smoker, each season might bring with it certain triggers that other seasons might not. Stay vigilant and adhere to NOPE and you'll be fine.

I LOVE this post @DenaliBlues, you've done so well these last six months and your contributions are going to help so many, especially this one As far as months 6-12, it's more of doing the same thing you've been doing, getting past most of the craves your first year quit goes through. That's why it still seems a struggle at times. But with each crave conquered the stronger your quit grows and the weaker and easier it'll be the next time.