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NOPE!

NOPE

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

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

NOPE!

NOPE

NOPE…

-8 Hey! The stairs need scrubbing ya know! Can one of you get on it?

Nope!

NOPE

NOPE!

NOPE !!

NOPE!

I come here for support....to vent....to encourage....to listen and speak truths. I will continue to come here for my first year, because whoever I made this pledge to originally kinda knows what he's talking about.....when people slip away from their supportive community, they often slip away from their commitment to NOPE. I read something the other day that made me ask myself....."Well Julie, why do you come here?" I see, and am experiencing something very similar to recovery from other addictions that I have and have sought treatment for. There is proven power in a community of positive support. I don't come here to 'save' people......not because I don't want to save people, but because I cant save people. As it is with any diagnoses, I can help you treat your cancer, but I cannot save you from your cancer. I can help you treat your addiction.....but I cannot save you from your addiction. But the strange thing is.....and if it weren't so amazing, it would be ridiculous, When I help you, I save myself from my own addiction. Im making the commitment.....Im committing to one year here. (I really feel as if Im just re-committing. Ive already made a pledge to stay with a supportive non-smoking community for one year. In 12 step circles, many of us have something called a 'home group': a place where we commit ourselves to showing up as much for ourselves as for others. Ive done nothing more than change my 'home group'. My committment stands. It just stands here) :)

Now then, let's be perfectly clear My only expertise is a little experience in smoking and quitting smoking. I have watched some videos, read some books and shared with some fellow quitters. I have zero medical experience or expertise, in fact I look away when they show operations on medical dramas. No knowledge whatsoever of brain chemistry. There is some true expertise knocking around on the forum - and a lot of it is pinned to the top of the boards - this however is just me shooting the breeze, sharing some experience and some observations. People choose to quit smoking for a variety of reasons. Some of them are deeply tragic personal experiences. The loss or debilitation of a loved one for example. Some are scared into it. Some just make a rational decision. Some people quit Cold Turkey. Some use NRT. Some use acupuncture, hypnosis. Some use Vaping. Some read books. I believe that it matters not a jot why someone chooses to quit or how they quit. Allen Carr, Joel, all sort of people have said this many many times - I am amazed at how long it has taken me to truly understand it. (Quite a thick head :rolleyes: ) One thing matters. Understanding the con. Every single one of us believed that we enjoyed smoking, that smoking gave us a benefit of some kind. Allen Carr covers this in depth - he calls it the key. We spent years convincing ourselves that we liked stinking, liked poisoning ourselves and those around us, liked impoverishing ourselves, liked being slaves to a drug addiction. Even when we stop - we yearn for the 'carefree' cigarette. BOLLOCKS! The moment that one realises that smoking does not give us any benefit and NEVER did, that it was all an elaborate con trick, then the Quit is done. It sticks. The con has worked for decades. People have made millions, no billions, of Dollars - and they continue to do so in the developing world. Perhaps the strongest testament to the power of the con - is that they are doing it again - and new generations of people are falling for it. "Here, take a strange looking pen shaped object, suck it and enjoy some vapour. Yes! Vapour. It's cool. Look you can have coffee flavoured vapour! To make the vapour even better, we have added a special ingredient called nicotine - this nicotine is brilliant as an insecticide, at fooling receptors in your brain and here is the real kicker.....nicotine is an absolute superstar at addicting you - guaranteeing that you personally will pay US a fortune for the rest of your life. 10% off if you buy an extra pack!" People are queuing up to suck this stuff in. I see them interviewed on TV "why are you vaping?" "it's kinda cool yaknow? Relaxes me innit. I enjoy it" Really? Sucking a pen is cool? You enjoy it? What the flavour? The coffee flavour? Here's an idea - HAVE A COFFEE! A quit fails because a little part of us clings onto the idea (an idea being pushed all around us) that smoking was enjoyable. It wasn't. It is a con. Understand this, really understand it and come to rely on it when you feel the siren call of a cigarette - and whether your quit started a year ago, a month ago, yesterday, today or even tomorrow - your quit will stick.

-9 Hey Reci

NOPE!

I pledge to be here for the long haul. :)

Likewise - I'm here to support and be supported. I'll stay a year or more...

Hey MQ, This is the ghost from your smoking past. Remember how bad things got in October when you relapsed? How you thought a cigarette would help? Remember how much you hated it and didn't get a second of enjoyment or relief from it? Remember the guilt you felt when you looked at your kids, your wife, your parents? Take a minute and step inside so you can see your daughter walk down the aisle while you sit because you can't make it with your oxygen tank. Do you see how beautiful and happy your baby girl is? Do you wish you could hold her hand and give her away? Instead you must sit and watch as she looks at you with tears in her eyes. You're too weak to do anything but breathe. Your time left is short. You've wasted away the years and for what? Is this what you want? So, before you even consider lighting one of those BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP cigarettes, remember what I've shown you. Now get back to living and go grab your baby girl and tell her how much you love her. PS, I hope you never have to bother me again because I know you know the truth about smoking.