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Nope

NOPE

NOPE

NOPE…

NOPE

This reason I've never heard before. It's esoteric and, it could have applied to me. I was chopping wood the other day and I had a log bounce into my leg. The shin to be exact. The pain was significant enough that I heard my drill sergeant from 38 years ago tell me to "walk it off." So after cursing a blue streak, and walking it off, I performed the requisite first aid and got back to work. Next day, yup, serious bone bruise. Not fun. Just to be safe I consulted Dr. Google on bone bruises. Apparently smoking complicates the healing of bone bruises. At the least, smoking extends the time it takes to recover from bone bruising. Thankfully, (drum roll) I DONT SMOKE so it doesn't apply to me!

NOPE!

NOPE!!!

One month more ....That's definitely something to dance about ..

We are so glad you found this place too... Your body has been fed poisons for decades ...it's got used to being fed every couple of hours ... I explained my feelings to a toddler learning all about life for the first time .. We have to retrain our brain on how to do everything without our fix ... This is why we call it a journey ...we travel along learning how to live life without our fix .. You fight your battles ... eventually you will win the war .. We have all been where you are ...keep coming here ,we will help you through as best we can

Nope!!

Hi @Molly2310. Your days are adding up - woo hoo! I had a similar experience to yours. Even after the first stage of chemical withdrawal, there were still a lot of ritual and emotional associations to rewire. Plus I had a deep body memory of smoking that would slam into me sometimes. My quitting experience was definitely not linear, more of a zig zag. Stay vigilant and stay busy and you will do okay. KTQ - Keep the Quit!

NOPE!

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

Those urges to smoke will grow further apart overtime and eventually the actual urge lessens to a mere thought and then as a wisp of a memory come and gone before you name it. You are building a solid foundation for your quit and it will carry you through.

Dear Molly, your Mum died suddenly on 10th February 2013, you were not smoking at the time, it was during your 9 month quit. You quit because your mum was a heavy smoker all of your life as well as an alcoholic. You were so worried about her, even though you were going down the same path. She was self destructive, so were you. You made a decision to stop smoking as the first step down a road of showing both of you that you could change. It wasn’t in time. You should have done it sooner, she might still be here if you had. You started smoking again, you fool. You looked after your Dad, remember? He had stopped in 1998 when he had his leg amputated because of smoking but you carried on. You watched him die from clogged up lungs despite having been quit for 20 years. He was in hospital in 2021. It took 7 days in hospital and 7 minutes in the end. You have scared your brother so much since then, he has lost his parents to smoking too. He didn’t say a word to you at the time but you saw the look in his eyes, you knew how scared he was of losing you too. You know how proud he is of you, how relieved he is that he doesn’t have to watch you kill yourself too. I know that you feel so alone sometimes, I know that on bad days you miss people so much that you feel like you don’t care if you die. I know that life feels empty a lot of the time but just think a minute, remember. You have had so many beautiful times lately, you have played with your nephews. You are loved, and you love. You will ALWAYS feel better in the morning, and you ALWAYS will. Remember that every day has the potential for something good: of a smile, of a laugh, of a special kind of happiness. Of a perfect beauty. Of nature, a song, a comedy show, a story, of a new friend, of so many things. There is so much to look forward to, even if you can’t always see it. There are days when you don’t even see the “good” until you go to bed and think, or when you wake up the next morning and recall. Promise yourself that you will always wait until tomorrow before you do anything silly and regretful yours Molly

Hey @Molly2310, yes that does make sense. We've all been there, that's part of the magic of this place. As you go through your day you deal with a lot of triggers, or times you would grab a smoke, and those need to be dealt with one by one. That's why we recommend taking the One Year Pledge that's pinned to the top.We feel that a year gets you through most of the triggers you will have to deal with and we want to help you if you need support. Your addiction is throwing a complete tantrum right now and wants its fix. You just stand your ground and don't give in because with each trigger you go through it'll be easier the next time.

NOPE!

Congratulations on 7 months

Ouch @Sirius, yay for quitting! Hope your leg feels better soon!

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No worries at all jillar, I am very thankful for you and everything you do here on the train, much appreciated!

Way to go Overcome. Good job.

It took me a long time to start doing the daily NOPE pledge: Not One Puff Ever. When I first quit, I was a basket case. I could barely tie my shoes, let alone come up with a whole new life plan. If I had tried to figure out how to stop smoking “forever” at that point, my brain might have exploded. After 42+ years of smoking, I simply couldn’t conceive of life without cigarettes. Truth be told, I didn't want to. And I was very afraid that I’d fail. (Again.) To make it over those starting hurdles, I took things one craving at a time – then one hour, and then one day at a time. That incremental approach worked better for me. It kept things simpler, more attainable. Small steps also disarmed the ambivalence I had about quitting. Part of me still desperately wanted to smoke. If I had waited to quit until I was 100% certain, I would have put off quitting indefinitely. I needed a way to quit anyhow, despite those mixed feelings. No puffing TODAY was that ticket for me. NOPT aint poetic, but it worked. SNOTT (Smoking’s Not on the Table) was helpful, too. My early quitting journey was much more gritty than pretty. There were dark times. Cravings definitely sucked. But they didn’t kill me. Every small victory mattered - minutes, then hours and days that I didn’t smoke. They built my quitting skills. And they helped me find my determination, too. Each moment without smoking was hard-won and precious, something I’d earned that I didn’t want to throw away. I began guarding them. I started to feel just a wee bit fierce. And the days started adding up sooner than I thought they would... It turned out that there was light waiting for me on the other side of withdrawal, light that I couldn’t see before. My addiction to nicotine had spun a story that I was a lost cause, that quitting was impossible for me, that only misery lay ahead if I quit. But that was an illusion, a withdrawal temper tantrum. By taking things one hour and one day at a time, evidence pointing to a different reality began to stack up. Quitting IS possible. Freedom CAN happen. I am gradually coming to believe in a forever quit for myself. These days, the daily NOPE pledge helps me stay committed and accountable. And vigilant. Sometimes I still have a strong longing to smoke. NOPE reminds me not to fall down the “I could have just one cigarette” sinkhole. Because I am an addict, one smoke inevitably leads to more. NOPE keeps me off that merry go round of misery. I’m so grateful to everyone here who does the NOPE pledge. It’s great reinforcement for the importance of actively tending my quit – like watering a garden. It’s a tiny celebration that helps me avoid complacency. And it’s positive reinforcement, reminding me that there are lots of other people walking this path, finding their own ways to freedom. If you’re lurking on the platform of the Quit Train station, unsure about hopping on board, give quitting a try. It’s possible. If NOPE feels beyond reach for any reason, toss in a NOPT or a SNOTT, instead. Whatever works for you. Amazing things can happen one day at a time.

Hiya, can I just say that I’m so very grateful to have found this place, thank you everyone for being so supportive. im nearing the end of day 4 and wanted to ask something. I’ve noticed that today the urges to smoke have been stronger. I thought about it in as analytical way as I could and came to the conclusion that they may feel like that for me because it was nigh on constant in the first few days but now I’m feeling “normal” for periods of time (admittedly not for long) so I’m noticing and feeling the urges more because they feel more noticeable. Does that make sense? Or am I just being overly optimistic? Again, thanks for being here

yep, quitting isn't glamourous fer sure. you don't quit because it's easy though. you quit because it's necessary.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm no longer a spring chicken so the healing process takes a more leisurely bit of time. I had to walk up to the pump house to install an incandescent light bulb to keep the tank from freezing. I could really feel that minor bone contusion by the time I got back. Ah well, at least I didn't fracture it.

NOPE Not today

NOPE…

You are doing great, Molly. Congratulations on the end of day 4. Everyone's quit is different but each day (hour, etc.) that you go smoke free, the stronger your quit gets. You will still experience urges and thoughts of smoking but stay strong. Things will get better. Keep up the great work.

I feel ya pain ... Glad you quit ...hope it heals quick !

LOL, @Boo… looks like @intoxicated yoda isn’t far behind.

I commit to one year quit. I’ll admit that I’m going to struggle to do that for me. Committing for today is as far as I can go for me. I’ll commit to one year for my brother. That I can and am happy to do. Hopefully somewhere down this road I’ll be happy to do it for me too

Great gif Boo Thank you. Your words certainly have carried me many a time. Hope all is as well as can be with you, it’s good to see you back on the train.

Congratulations on reaching the lido deck DenaliBlues. I was late for the party, but I'm making up time.

Great job Catlover. Top-shelf quit all-around. This gif doesn't really fit, I just liked it.

Geez @overcome, I just realized I put the wrong number, sorry about that I changed it on the heading but kept what I wrote just to trip everyone out lol. Anyway, happy seven monthaversary!

You are doing great Molly! Stay busy and strong and close to the board. You can get this beast off your back because you are stronger than it. Believe in yourself. Best wishes and keep up the good work. It will get easier and you can do this.

Congrats to you on five years smoke-free and five years of helping others on their way to the same, Catlover!

Congratulations on 7 months smoke free, Overcome! You are nearly 3/4 through the year! Fantastic job and just keep going! It gets easier and easier with each month!

Way to go, Catlover! Congratulations on 5 years no ciggies! I bet it still feels awesome when you realize you don't have to go stand out in the weather and take a smoke break!! Life without cigs really is grand!

SEVEN MONTHS is wonderful.....