MarylandQuitter

One note taken from the ebay store... Once my costs are covered (break even) all extra proceeds from these sales will not go to the forum and instead will be donated to charity. The forum is privately funded and will remain that way. Our goal is to reach as many people as we can to spread the word that quitting smoking is very doable, often times enjoyable and always rewarding. Selling merchandise is just another way to spread the word and by selling items for a small amount above my costs allows us as a support group to offer some donations to certain charities. This is just another way to pay it forward. When you buy an item, a donation will be made to a charity from your country, wherever that may be.

El Bandito, I have nothing to add. You said it all. The truth is all right up above. Tiffany, I really, really hope you read through this thread because you can and need to quit. You have the ability to never take another puff.

Here are couple of quick pics. They turned very, very nice. :) Back Front

She said that she can't log on with her phone but can with her computer. She's away from her computer and only has her phone. I told her that I could change her password and email it to her but haven't heard back from her.

Not too shabby. ;)

Glad to hear from you, Tiff!!!!!! Look, at least give it some thought to pushing that quit date up a bit. You've watched Joel's videos and you know the drill. Your quit must be kept separate from life's trials. Let me know when you're ready to face the lies written below. That paragraph is big stinky pile of poo! Right now you're a smoker who doesn't want to quit. Some people may never quit and you need to decide if you're one of these people or not. This can go back and forth for the rest of your life unless you get control over this addiction. This is horrible and it's killing you. Do you really believe some people are genetically wired to never quit? That doesn't even make any sense unless we were somehow genetically wired to smoke in the first place. This is preposterous. Let me know when you're ready to address that pile of poo above and pack a lunch because it's gonna be back at day one since you've learned very little, if anything at all over the past what, 3 years? The special day you quit will not have any effect on your ability to stay quit. You need to learn NOPE or NTAP and just do it.

That is awesome, Leanna!!!!!!

Great job!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9jKSzJ9kSQ

Welcome!! You didn't pick the worse time to quit. You picked the best time!! Cigarettes cannot calm you down or help you deal with stress; they cause stress. Nicotine addiction makes you believe the idea that you enjoyed smoking...that's the memory we all have when we think back to when we smoked and we relieved our withdrawal pangs. The same thing will occur if you wear super tight shoes all day...and then you finally remove them. Of course there will be relief and a feeling of "ahhhhhh" But how about not having worn the tight shoes in the first place? It's all an illusion that we enjoyed it. Once you truly understand and believe that the cigarette does absolutely nothing for you....you achieve freedom. You are happier...you are healthier..and not smoking becomes....well....easy. Every day. That's the biggest battle..the mindset.--babs609 I'll Quit When... Why NOW is the best time to quit smoking no matter when NOW is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEiUAFnoqo&list=PLCDB8BA311D538113

I read your blog earlier. Welcome to the fold! Look, yes of course you can do this! Cigarettes are not your friend even though right now it feels like it. My Cigarette, My Friend? How do you feel about a friend who has to go everywhere with you? Not only does he tag along all the time, but since he is so offensive and vulgar, you become unwelcome when with him. He has a peculiar odor that sticks to you wherever you go. Others think both of you stink. He controls you totally. When he says jump, you jump. Sometimes in the middle of a blizzard or storm, he wants you to come to the store and pick him up. You would give your spouse hell if he or she did that to you all the time, but you can't argue with your friend. Sometimes, when you are out at a movie or play he says he wants you to go stand in the lobby with him and miss important scenes. Since he calls all the shots in your life, you go. Your friend doesn't like your choice of clothing either. Instead of politely telling you that you have lousy taste, he burns little holes in these items so you will want to throw them out. Sometimes, he tires of the furniture and gets rid of it too. Occasionally, he gets really nasty and decides the whole house must go. He gets pretty expensive to support. Not only is his knack of property destruction costly, but you must pay to keep him with you. In fact, he will cost you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. And you can count on one thing, he will never pay you a penny in return. Often at picnics you watch others playing vigorous activities and having lots of fun doing them. But your friend won't let you. He doesn't believe in physical activity. In his opinion, you are too old to have that kind of fun. So he kind of sits on your chest and makes it difficult for you to breathe. Now you don't want to go off and play with other people when you can't breathe, do you? Your friend does not believe in being healthy. He is really repulsed by the thought of you living a long and productive life. So every chance he gets he makes you sick. He helps you catch colds and flu. Not just by running out in the middle of the lousy weather to pick him up at the store. He is more creative than that. He carries thousands of poisons with him which he constantly blows in your face. When you inhale some of them, they wipe out cilia in your lungs which would have helped you prevent these diseases. But colds and flu are just his form of child's play. He especially likes diseases that slowly cripple you - like emphysema. He considers this disease great. Once he gets you to have this, you will give up all your other friends, family, career goals, activities - everything. You will just sit home and caress him, telling him what a great friend he is while you desperately gasp for air. But eventually your friend tires of you. He decides he no longer wishes to have your company. Instead of letting you go your separate ways, he decides to kill you. He has a wonderful arsenal of weapons behind him. In fact, he has been plotting your death since the day you met him. He picked all the top killers in society and did everything in his power to ensure you would get one of them. He overworked your heart and lungs. He clogged up the arteries to your heart, brain, and every other part of your body. In case you were too strong to succumb to this, he constantly exposed you to cancer causing agents. He knew he would get you sooner or later. Well, this is the story of your "friend," your cigarette. No real friend would do all this to you. Cigarettes are the worst possible enemies you ever had. They are expensive, addictive, socially unacceptable, and deadly. Consider all this and NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! Joel http://whyquit.com/w...lcigfriend.html

I still can't believe it!! :(

I got a message from her on the blog site that she can't log in. I'll get her back on here. :)

That's right, the Queen of the QT has been smoke-free for 3 years!!! If you've relapsed and think you can never keep a quit, talk to Beth. She's been there done that and now she's 3 years without a puff. Congrats, Beth!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKDcoD6H8IQ

Great pictures!! Thanks for sharing. Here's one of me when I was about 5 with my Dad. Note the cup of coffee to his side. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. :)

Excellent job!!! Please keep reading and watching the educational videos and learn as much as you can about this addiction because it's the key to staying smoke-free for the rest of your life. :)

Yes, please. :) When you add it to the calendar, you can set it to where it creates and event each month. One thing I hate to do is miss somebody's 6 mo or 1 year anny because it's not on the calendar. If it's on the calendar, there is less of a chance that my simple mind will miss it. lol :crazy:

Excellent!!! Must be all that shuffling. I have a FitBit and my wife threw a fit for a bit because it's been in my workout area sitting on a table for months. It will soon be charged and synced again with my phone. Fit. Bit.

Good to see ya rowlyd!! NOPE!!

I wish for everyone to have a great cup of coffee with Santa!

You mean a place like this? :) There are local support groups where people meet like an AA meeting but I really don't see a need for a full fledged rehab to help people deal with withdrawals etc. I really never bought into the notion that nicotine is just as addictive or as hard to quit as heroin. When heroin users are asked about the first time they shot up, they loved it. They craved it and wanted more. Who wouldn't with that rush of dopamine flooding and overcoming your entire body. When we smoked our first cigarette, most if not all of us did not like it. I've dealt with junkies and people addicted to crack and it's nothing like being addicted to nicotine. Pain killers are probably worse than all three. If anybody needs a hospital to break an addiction it's the heavy pain killer addict. Horrible, horrible addiction. Smoking is just as deadly as any of the others and although it may not kill instantly due to an overdose or cause us to lose our jobs and live in the streets, it will slowly kill us and cripple us in misery for years before death.

From Joel's Freedom Forum I originally wrote this to a member asking if we knew of a program that would lock her up so she would have to quit smoking: I do think there are some clinics out there that do basically lock up people to quit smoking. But I wouldn't put much stock in the technique. We lock up people all the time in our hospital and don't let people smoke. It's not in our smoking clinic; it's in our intensive care unit. You can lock people up for days and weeks if the condition is serious enough. Technically, these people are detoxed from nicotine. Heck, some of them were comatose and never even experienced withdrawal. In theory, this sounds appealing to some smokers. But the reality of the situation is often, in fact maybe more often than not; the first thing these patients do upon release from the hospital is grab for a cigarette. You see these people never quit smoking. They were smokers who were just not allowed to smoke. They don't learn anything about survival in the real world without smoking. They know how to be fed intravenously, they know how to use a remote on a television, but that is about it. The urge for a cigarette upon being released is incredible. It's interesting though, there is a real easy way to stop the urge. Throw them on a gurney, stick an IV in their arm and all of a sudden they don't need a cigarette. They are doing the one thing they learned, being a connected patient. People need to face the real world as quickly as they can to start to break the associations of day to day rituals. Only then will they prove to themselves that there is life after smoking. As far as being sad, this is normally experienced when quitting. Unlike the physical symptoms, striking hard and then dissipating within days, psychological symptoms are less predictable. But in some ways, they are also more controllable. I am going to attach to letters here to this post addressing these issues. They have been on the board recently, but so you don't have to scramble looking for them they will be right here. Hope this helps a little. Joel P.S. There actually was a hospital in the Chicago area that used to have an inpatient unit for smoking cessation. It went under in less than a year of operation. I had three of their patient's come to my program to quit. Two of them made it. All of them said that they were basically doped up during the hospitalization. I think they were using a drug called clonidine at the time. Powerful antihypertensive that at one time was thought to be helpful. Never met anyone who actually got off smoking using it though. So if you find a program, check out what they do before assuming it's a good plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBHsHzvRip8

Welcome and congrats on being a non-smoker! Drink lots of water and remember, your body is fast at work ridding itself of all the toxins and poisons that you've been feeding it. Why Do Smokers Smoke? Video discusses how nicotine addiction causes cigarettes and nicotine products to incorporate into almost every aspect of a smoker's life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9AmZiI3rNI Quitting Is More Doable Than Most People Think The idea that quitting smoking is close to impossible is often perpetuated at Internet quit sites. This video hits home the point that this is a dangerous misconception. Quitting is in fact more doable than most people think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gtXGwu3uC4&list=PLCDB8BA311D538113&index=6

Excellent, excellent post, Lace. :)