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NOPE

merry xmas. still here

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

Nope...never ever!!

Nope!

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

G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.... (replace Ever with Min,Hour, Day as required). flame tree and “Queenslander” house

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N O P E

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Jonny5 Quit Date: 2011-12-21 Posted April 28, 2014 We are all on board the quit train, chugging away to our destination, but where is that destination, when will you have arrived? the secret for me is that the train is very much like a child's train set, it has elaborate bridges, tunnels, stations etc, but ultimately the train is on a continuous loop. there are many stations where we pick up passengers, there's Cold Turkey Park, Patch Junction, E-cig Crossing, Grand Gum Central, and loads more that I've run out of names for but you get the point, we all start our journeys in different places. We all bring various amounts of baggage with us, sometimes our baggage takes up more room on the train than we do ourselves. this is often the case for a new passenger. The other occupants of the carriage are a little more experienced, and they soon help the new rider to pack away the baggage neatly, and in many cases the new rider realises that they have packed a whole load of junk that is weighing them down, so they toss it out the window, bit by bit. sometimes it's harder for folk to let go of certain belongings, items that they have held on to for years, often these false idols weigh down the passenger more than they can comprehend, but life without these false idols feels kind of raw, naked if you like, it can feel like you are loosing your very identity, until of course that you realise that your identity was one of addiction, not of choice. Along the journey, we pass through many seasons and triggers, some of us for the first time, and some of us for the hundredth time. they are frightening first time around, but we soon get used to them, and our companions comfort us and prepare us, and they warn us in advance. We soon get used to them. We pass through Cliche Canyon, here we stop for a while to stretch our legs, and to reaffirm the things we have learned along the way. we make up songs and rhymes, and acronyms for the newbies to sing, so that they remember that One Equals All, so that they know to Never Take Another Puff, and that Not One Puff Ever will keep them safe. The most treacherous part of the journey is Relapse Ravine, it lays just beyond Memory Lane, somewhere after passing through No man's Land. This can be the most lonely part of the journey, A passenger can be sitting in one of the quiet carriages, the newbie coach has gotten a bit too noisy for them, they sit and stare out of the window, gazing down memory lane, dreams of a long lost romance can fill their hearts and minds, and can drive them crazy. some of these passengers will go and chat to the newbies, they understand that they may need to be reminded of the early struggles, some of them ask the olde phartes what to do. But some unfortunately climb on the roof, bypassing the SOS safety rail, and throw themselves into relapse ravine, looking for their lost love. It is important to remember that when we are smokers, that was our comfort zone, It is not the zone that we have to live in if we wish to break free. Some of you won't like the way others will try to pull you out of that comfort zone, some of you will flourish upon it. some will take offence. There are many methods, and all of us are teachers and students when it comes to learning about how to get through to someone. However in the field of smoking cessation, and specifically of learning to be a happy non smoker, well it's like learning to read. you just do it, and then you know it, it doesn't take effort to remember how to do it, and no more learning will be needed to stop you from forgetting it. You just can, or you can not. My ability to read is not something I feel complacent about, it's something I feel confident about. there are some people on the train, who are really just riding it because they know that the train is run by volunteers, and they volunteer their time, and experience, to pay for the free ticket that was once passed to them by a friendly face many years before. Sometimes they challenge the distorted logic of the junkie, out of love and compassion for the person trapped inside, the person that reminds them of themselves, sometimes they get hugged, and sometimes they get shouted at. they know the risks of engaging the junkie, they were once the junkie too, they mostly say the things that are now so obvious to them, but once were not. They have ridden the train so much, that they know every single inch of track, they know it inside out. and they knew the moment they reached their destination. It was the same destination for all of them. it was the place where they found inner peace, no junkie chatter, no doubt, no desire or need to smoke, and no way on earth to return to smoking, without making a deliberate decision to sign up for slow suicide. I believe that is the destination that we are all trying to reach, regardless of where we boarded the train, and regardless of how rough or smooth, or long, or short our journey was. I sincerely look forward to welcoming you there, each and every last one of you. Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/1045-where-does-the-train-go/

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High five for five months.

Hugs to you who are at the beginning of your quit journey. I was a serial quitter. I wept at failing many times to quit and make it stick. I haunted this forum and its predecessor. I'd quit, post a lot, smoke, disappear in shame, and reappear days or weeks or moths later. Yes, being bipolar was a part of it. We bipolar people are often addicts. I wanted to quit. I kept coming back. Find your "why." Quitting for someone else may not be a strong enough reason. If you have a child, and you want to know that you're doing everything you can to be alive for that child's life, then yes, that may be a strong enough reason. Is it? For me, it was Covid. I used to attend infectious diseases medical presentations. The coming pandemic was a topic of discussion, perhaps once or twice a year. I saw a slide about how the next pandemic would spread...along air flight routes. Early 2020, when I saw, on the Johns Hopkins internet map, that Covid 19 was marching across China, I knew that this was the pandemic the infectious disease community was expecting. When I learned that lung problems were a major issue, I knew that, as a smoker, I'd be hit hard. I didn't want to die. February 21, 2020, I quit. I didn't want to die if I got Covid. The first case near me was reported less than two weeks later. (Kirkland, WA, USA) Find your "why." You'll quit, and one day you'll be where I am, at nearly three years quit, and only on occasion thinking about cigarettes. Do I still long for a cigarette? Yes, sometimes. I'll see a movie star smoking, and think, yes, that would be nice. But that's not reality. I'll see a homeless person smoking or someone around my apartment building smoking and think, "this is the reality. Smoking costs money to buy cigarettes, and eventually it costs money for medical care. , I'd rather save the money and not be an addict. I'd rather be saving for retirement. I'd rather be saving to buy a house.." Quit. Fail. Quit again. Keep quitting until you don't have to quit again.........you're simply quit. I've disappeared from this forum for weeks at a time. I'll forget that I was a smoker. Then I'll smell cigarette smoke and log on to the forum and pledge again. I'll try to check in more frequently. I do want to support those of you who are early in your quits. Quit. Quit smoking. Educate yourself about why you smoke. By the way......I've just learned that ketogenic diets are helpful for people who are bipolar and schizophrenic. (and epileptic) One podcast I saw suggested that people who are addicted benefit by lowering their carbohydrates, as well. Perhaps it's something to look into. Apparently, a high percentage of us bipolar and schizophrenic folks are smokers. If this is you, stay tuned. I'll report back.

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congrats @overcome 5 months is a great start

Great hearing from you @Kate18. Your post is informative and encouraging. Thank you!

Thanks for posting this, @Kate18. Good encouragement for those of us who still struggle.

Nope! I was at the dentist today, and she said "you used to smoke?" I answered "yes". After almost 10 years, there are still consequences

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Congratulations on your 5th month of freedom from being nicotine’s slave @overcome! You are doing great!

I no longer want to be a slave to Nicotine.......the Tobacco Industry, big Pharma and the Government. It is an honor that all of you have allowed me on the train and helped me get to where I am at with my quit .......... thank you my friends!

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