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

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Hello, all. I'm Penguin, 39, and currently living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I was a smoker from my 21st birthday until 19 October 2023, for a grand total of 17 years. After trying to quit several times in those years, God saw fit to thump me with His velvet-coated two-by-four, and I learned what "spontaneous pulmonary pneumothorax" means. Somehow, air had gotten into the space around my right lung, and my lung collapsed. After four days in the hospital, I was able to go home, but I knew then I'd hit a decision point in my life. If I kept smoking, I would never quit again. It was time. After I got home from the hospital, the first thing I did was to put all of my smoking paraphernalia in a trash bag. I spent the better part of an hour crushing cigarettes, snapping pipes, mangling cigars, and breaking lighters. I haven't had what I would consider cravings since I quit, but I have thought, "I could smoke a cigarette." At the same time, I've been in that situation before, and I know how slippery that slope is. In my case, I can't ever have another puff, nor can I be around it. Whenever I smell tobacco smoke or a vape, my brain goes into a kind of panic, where the only thing I can focus on is getting away from it. While I recognize the symptoms of post-traumatic stress, I'm not terribly interested in resolving this particular issue, because it has been quite useful. I'm here because I'd like to encourage others where I can, but I'm also working on a little pet project: legislation to restrict smoking to specific areas in my city. I'm hoping there are those here who may be able to offer insights into that.

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Thank you, @jillar. Out here in Colorado Springs, people can smoke on the sidewalks, and pretty much anywhere that isn't indoors or right in front of a business doorway. Even then, people smoke in prohibited zones outdoors and very rarely face any consequences. My idea is to present legislation that prohibits smoking on public thoroughfares. You can smoke, but you have to do it away from areas you share with non-smokers. That would mean no smoking in front of a bar next to the sidewalk; you have to go out back, on the side of the building farthest from the sidewalk. I still haven't figured out exactly how to word things, and I'm sure there's complications and implications I haven't considered. Normally I'm an advocate for "you do you," but in this case, people smoking doesn't just affect them. When your habit puts my health in danger, I take that personally. I look forward to my time here, and to the continued success of those who choose to live.

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Gday Chris from Brisbane Australia. Goggle smoking laws for Brisbane. You basically can’t smoke in the city of Brisbane any more. The result for me is that I don’t see anyone smoking anymore. Cig butts stand out now cause I hardly see them anymore. Yes I see vapes now I never seen before but never anyone using one. Though I see the funny clouds of steam coming out of car windows.

Welcome aboard @Penguin, congratulations on your awesome quit, and thanks for wanting to support others choosing to take their life back I'm in California and our smoking laws are probably the strictest in America. There's no smoking literally everywhere including parks and open spaces, pretty much anywhere people congregate. I'd start with a petition. You can also write your representative, id start at the county level, and share your concerns. Good luck and keep us posted

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It's actually been 13 months, but I've only just found you all. I celebrated one year free from tobacco on 19 October 2024, and 13 months clean on 19 November 2024. Going forward, I plan to celebrate monthly, hopefully in this same thread so I won't clog things up.

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Congratulations on your Lucky #13 months of freedom, and welcome to the Quit Train! We’re thrilled that you found us.

Hi @Penguin Welcome aboard the Quit Train!! So glad you found us and congratulations on your 13 month quit journey! That is awesome!! You came to the right place to look for and offer support to others. We are a really great group and I hope you stick around! Check out all the information Quit Train has to offer. There are people on this forum who have been quit a decade or more and some newbies and everything in between. So just take a seat, first class, of course, and enjoy the ride!!

Welcome @Penguin. I look forward to following you and getting to know you better. You have an amazing 13 month quit.

A year and a half!! Thanks again everyone!!

Welcome @Penguin. Congratulations on 13 months smoke free. Awesome job

NOPE!! Welcome home Reci...

Welcome to Quit Train @Penguin! I've been quit for a few years now and early on in my quit the smell of someone smoking was aluring to me. Made me want to light one up but now ... I find the smell really offputting; disgusting actually so I suppose your reaction to people smoking may change as time goes on as well? Where I live, smoking is very restricted. Basically you can't smoke anywhere other than outdoors as long as you're not on property owned by organizations that ban smoking on their property. No smoking at sports fields or outdoor playgrounds etc. All this legislated by municipalities & eventually by the Provincial Government. How you get there is the question I suppose. Government legislation usually comes from public pressure at both the local & State/Provincial levels. Petitions, using social medial and lobbying whatever politicians you can makes a difference. Encouraging others to join you is key! Good wishes to you in continuing the fight!!

You've done well to achieve 13 months quit @Penguin! You've landed in a great place as well coming to this site. We're all quitters here so have been through similar trials & tribulations as you have and we're all committed to supporting each other in staying quit for life. Welcome aboard!!

Congratulations on 13 months quit @Penguin!

Welcome aboard! Your story is similar to mine. Took a 8-9 stay in the hospital to cure me. I remember getting home afterwards and taking 2 full packs of cigs and a partial pack and tearing them up and throwing them away, That`s over 8 years ago and I`m still NOPING! Good luck and best wishes with the quit. You seem to have this. Stick around.

You are doing great @Penguin , and as I said in the other thread, Welcome Aboard!!

Junky thinking, make it stop., Quitnet Re-Post January 5, 2006 From jacquot on 1/5/2006 2:22:00 PM Dear Tom Brady: If I were there, I'd reach out and put my hand on your shoulder and say I was sorry you're experiencing junky thinking. It can be frustrating, agonizing and discouraging. But really, in the truest analysis: it's okay. In fact, it's natural and expected that your inner active addict is trying to reawaken active addiction. Perhaps the best news I have to offer is that the rationalizations, pleas, begging, etc.. of our inner active junkies can be, well, disregarded entirely as ravings of a mad man. You can think of it like a phone ringing: you don't have to answer it. And when you don't answer it, repeatedly, the damned phone stops ringing or rings far less. Craves are not commands. They are not moral imperatives. You do not have to yield to them. You can simply let them be. That's right. Let them be. Most importantly, these early days of your quit are the hardest and do not in anyway represent what it feels like to be quit for any length of time. There are days of absolute peace out there with the word "TOMBRADY" typed in all caps across the top of the day's agenda so that when you check it, it says Monday, TOMBRADY: peace. Tuesday, TOMBRADY: peace. You get the idea. Wait it out. It is SOOOO worth it. -J (1281)

Showed em how it's done, Johnny! Congrats on your decade.

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Congrats @johnny5(is alive)! thanks for all the support you gave me and that you continue to give to all those coming behind you.

Congratulations on your 13 months smoke free Here is a well earned Pat on the back

Welcome aboard Congratulations on your fabulous Quit and I’m sorry you have been through a tough illness . Thank your for taking your seat , to help others find their own quit . Here in the UK , folks can still smoke outside away from others , I feel we still have a long way to go .

Subtitle: The Romance Is Dead! This is the time of year when many people quit smoking. Most especially, people who quit before but relapsed are trying again. I think that is wonderful (that they're coming back, not that they relapsed). Reading their posts has made me realize that in very many cases, people relapse because they are still romancing the cigarette. That means that they still WANT to smoke even though they know that smoking does nothing good for them. They still remember those quietly satisfying evenings on the deck smoking. They remember that a-a-a-h-h-h! of satisfaction with the first long draw on a cigarette. And they want that again. And so even if they are weeks or months into a quit-- even though the PHYSICAL addiction is long gone-- they essentially choose to go back to smoking because of the pull of these romantic fantasies about how good smoking was. Well, I was the poster child for romancing the cigarette. Throughout this quit and all my previous quits (of which there were several) I always wanted to smoke. I didn't smoke-- I controlled myself-- but I wanted to smoke. All the time. Almost every day. It seemed to me that after 4 or 5 months quit, almost everybody on the board was way done with smoking and happy about it. I still missed it. And that was frustrating because my rational brain KNEW that the "pleasure" of smoking was vastly over rated and mostly imaginary. I KNEW that I was romancing the cigarette and I really did not want to go back to smoking. But the seductive thoughts were there. Maybe not every day, but often enough to be very annoying. I'm here to tell you that today, more than 9 months after my quit, I realize that I am not desiring a cigarette hardly ever! This is a first for me. And this death of the romance is not just a matter of time-- I quit smoking before for periods of up to a year and still suffered from romancing. I think that the difference this time is that I educated myself about Nicodemon's lies. It's as though my rational brain has told my junkie brain over and over and over again "No, smoking is NOT pleasurable! And such small, brief pleasure as you feel when you smoke comes at way too great a cost! Forget it!" and finally, FINALLY junkie brain is quieting down. What a relief! Now I do admit that during these "romancing episodes" that I'm talking about-- those days when I really, really wanted a cigarette-- I had to remind myself over and over again about why I quit smoking in the first place and remind myself over and over again that I wanted to quit more than I wanted to smoke. I had to FIGHT to keep my quit many, many times over the months. The urge to smoke wasn't constant, but it was frequent. Sometimes it was quite miserable. I'm still jealous of people who seemed to have it easier than I did. I often thought that I was a "special snowflake" and I had it harder than other quitters-- few people admitted that they still wanted to smoke many months after a quit. But whether I had it worse than anyone else or not, I hung in there, reminded myself about why I quit, and that I was DETERMINED not to smoke. Now, at last, I can look back over the last few weeks and realize that the romance is dead. I finally, finally am at the point where I do think about smoking once in a while but it's like a vague thought that is easily dismissed, not a serious desire. I have heard others describe this "vague thought" phenomenon many months after a quit and I finally understand what they are talking about. So I guess I am writing this to say that if you are many weeks or months into a quit and you still want a cigarette, you are not alone. What you are experiencing is real. It does happen to some people (like me, for example). You are romancing the cigarette and you have to use your rational brain, your smoking education, and your strong desire to quit to fight the urge. And eventually, sooner or later, you will turn around one day and realize that the romance is dead. You really don't have to fight to keep your quit anymore-- you just have to remain vigilant and committed. Hang in there, folks! You can DO this!

Congratulations @QuittingGirl! You’ve had an amazing year and I’m so proud of you!

Congrats @johnny5 on reaching your 10th year smoke free. That really IS a HUGE milestone and worth celebrating. Glad you stuck around all those years as well

Its great to hear from you @Eeyore Thanks for the congratulations. IIRC your 10 year anniversary is in a few days. Congratulations on 10 years smoke free. ________ Thanks everyone else for the congratulations messages. It means a lot. Last Saturday (my 10 year anniversary) my laptop crashed. It was older and acting up but still isn't a good thing to go through. I tried several things to try to fix it and eventually winding up buying a new laptop today. Back in my smoking days, I would have probably chain-smoked while trying to fix my laptop. Now, the thought of smoking didn't even enter my mind. It doesn't happen overnight but things do get better with time the further into your quit you get. Just adhere to NOPE, even if it is one day, hour, minute at a time and smoking will become a thing of the past.

Wow... congratrs @johnny5, What an awesome accomplishment. And thank you for sticking around to support others here.

Congrats on 10 Years Johnny, such a wonderful achievement

TEN YEARS! Huge congratulations to you and all you give to the site. Best wishes!

Well done, Johnny! Congratulations on your decade of freedom! And thanks for all of the encouragement you’ve given to me and so many other quitters.