Sazerac

11 Well, The Rat Buffet restaurant on the corner CLOSED in the lock-down and my 20 snap traps and bucket of poison...I think I am ahead of the curve. No signs in 3 days, fingers crossed. They really tunneled up my garden but, were evicted with a water hose and a shovel. Thwack thwack the drowning rats.

11 good. all is well for me in NOLA.

11 hiya G how are you doing ?

11 New Stick ! How many spankings for Chicks so far ? Feeling like the old days, pffttt.

The addict (all of us) lies and will continue to lie to resume addiction. One of the greatest gifts of quitting has been the ability to be starkly honest with ourselves. We can hear the lies and the wheedles and the whining of the addict and are able to see the truth. This has affected many facets of my life and enabled a deep trust in myself to emerge. This is great. ^^^^ Some quitters need to stay away from potentially triggering situations and others face them quickly and head on. I believe the sooner you get on with your life the better, like you speak of below, Triggers are old patterns that don't serve you anymore. You are a free person. Nobody can make you relapse. I know You know that. Relapse will never come from out of the blue, it is a conscious choice to abandon your commitment. Recognize Red Flags I am so glad you are sharing your quit with us, H, and look forward to your posts all around QTrain. It is an pleasure to ferret out information for you. When I am touchy/concerned about your quit it is because I know a lot about how an addict thinks. I am one. Beware ! Doreen has the cast iron skillet she brings out for emphasis. I'll just send you a bazillion links, lol.

NOPE Thank you, @Irene ! Hope you are OK @Cbdave

However you see it H, partaking of nicotine IS a physical dependence. It affects many, many parts of the body. This video highlights a few. You Smoked Because You Are A Smoke-aholic Physically, nicotine is gone from the body in about three days. While the psychological impacts often take longer, it is a matter of changing patterns and addressing triggers. You may have some pop up when freed from the lock-down but, hold fast to your commitment to yourself and you will remain nicotine free forever. I am so pleased you have confidence in your quit. Many of us were confident in our early quits, some later. Here is a thread, I hope you add your experience. When Did You Have Confidence In Your Quit ? You are a beautiful nicotine free creature, baby. Congratulations !

NOPE

Be really kind to yourself, darcy. Pamper yourself to the extreme. Take comfort wherever you can. All we can do is live through this with grace. Happy Birthday Darcy's Mom ! p.s. I was so tickled to see you using "Think again, get right with myself, call an ally, post an sos" and have every confidence you will follow that protocol should you hit a wall. s

I appreciate your exuberance H but, understand. You are dealing with addiction. Addiction is with you FOREVER. Yes, we can put it to sleep by standing by and committing to Not One Puff Ever but, this takes vigilance throughout your life. I know you are pushing a new broom here but, I recommend watching all the videos (even the ones you don't like) and completely educating yourself about your addiction. Read until your eyes bleed and learn. Education is your strength, and these are tools you will use forever. We have seen a lot of successful quits here and also a lot of failed ones. You are most vulnerable the first days and less so throughout the first YEAR. This we know, both from experience and by other's experience. I know Too Much About Smoking To Relapse I Hate Smoking So Much That There Is No Way I Could Ever Go Back Complacency So, start all the posts you want but, keep your quit FOREMOST. Protect it with your life. You are dealing with a deadly addiction, should you underestimate the power of addiction- you do so at your own peril !

I keep my hair in a long tight braid, combing it out and braiding it fresh every morning. A garden ritual. Confession ? I haven't done this in days. Blame it on the lock-down, I suppose. But, lock-down or no, Standards Must Be Maintained. Today, the day to untangle the head of Medusa.

I am a quasi recluse and love it. Thank gawd I live alone. I would kill somebody who talks all the time or, has the telly on all the time or, was even just around all the time. HEADPHONES !!! Noise cancelling and good music. They have saved me from murder but, didn't save any marriages.

I kept the ducats from a pack a day in a big jam jar. Congratulations on quitting, Irene. Breathe in deep delicious oxygen, this will quell a crave, stimulate endorphins and nourish your body/soul.

Poor Bird. Hope she is OK ! This is a reminder to be REALLY careful at home, y'all. Many of us are or will be in a lock-down and most accidents happen en casa. Make sure you have a decent first aid kit. I don't want to have to go to the hospital. I'm staying off ladders. Being extra careful with knives and tools and trying not to be an idiot.

Congratulations on your First Week of Freedom, @helmethermit. Rewards ! Accolades ! The crowd goes wild ! The power of smell. Many of us had some quitter's flatulence for giggles and to test our new sensory awareness. You might like this vid from Boo's post, Perception Shift Your experience will help others to quit. You are a pleasure to read. There are many eyes out there/in here. This is why when a subject comes up I include so many links to resources. You never know who is listening.

Thanks for turning me on to these ^^^^ I am listening again to Chaos: Making A New Science by James Gleick also listening to A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. BIRD (1831 - 1904) Isabella Bird was a single woman in her early forties when she made her trek through the Rocky Mountains in the 1870's This book is on Librivox.org (a fabulous site of volunteers that read books in the public domain. Some readers are excellent !) A friend texts, "I have gone through Netflix." Thought that was funny

YAY YAY YAY ! Congratulations, Irene. You Quit Smoking ! This made my day, Irene. I am v. happy for you.

Happy Birthday QTrain ! Here is one of the first posts from our fearless benefactor, @MarylandQuitter. Thank you so much for making this site possible. March 28, 2014 Quit Train®, a quit smoking support community, was created by former smokers who have a deep desire to help people quit smoking and to help keep those quits intact. This place should be a safe haven to escape the daily grind and focus on protecting our quits. We don't believe that there is a "one size fits all" approach when it comes to quitting smoking. Each of us has our own unique set of circumstances which contributes to how we go about quitting and more importantly, how we keep our quits. This is not an environment where anybody will be judged as we only exist to offer education, support and acceptance. Through education and sharing experiences, we can all help each other to keep this nasty, deadly addiction out of our lives. We all want the same thing; to stay smoke-free and enjoy our lives of living as a non-smoker and all of the health benefits and freedom that it offers. Anybody can quit smoking and anybody can stay that way. It's a matter of finding a good combination of education and support to expose the lies of smoking in a comfortable, come as you are environment. We welcome all with open arms and hope that you can make this your safe haven to take your freedom back and get on with the business of living life as a non-smoker. ------------------------------------- This is a post that Joel used to use quite often at the Freedom From Nicotine Message Board before they implemented their no relapse policy. While it's no longer used at Freedom, it's a very insightful and an excellent message for all of us, especially those who have relapsed and most importantly, mirrors our ideology concerning relapse. A special thanks to Joel for allowing us to use this. I tried freedom once, why bother trying again? Some past participants have shown a certain reluctance to return to Freedom after relapsing back to smoking. Many are embarrassed to come back admitting failure. Others feel they tried Freedom once, and, since they went back to smoking, its techniques must not have worked for them, so why bother trying the same approach again? Still others feel it is an inconvenience and an unnecessary commitment of time and effort considering they "heard it all before." The concept of returning after a relapse may seem embarrassing at first, but, the ex-smoker will probably see quickly he is not alone. Many people have had past quits prior to joining Freedom and understand the fragility of a quit. They will generally understand and accept the presence of repeaters enthusiastically. Relapsers offer a strong confirmation of the concept of addiction to our old members and to all new participants. They often openly share their past experience of how, after initially quitting, they came to a point of complacency which allowed the relapse to occur. They generally reflect back at their non-smoking period as a time where they felt emotionally and physically better, and then openly express the disgust and misery that the relapse brought on. Not only did it cause embarrassment, physical discomfort, and maybe even serious health complications, but also, it was putting them through quitting all over again. Their insights offer a valuable lesson to first time participants not to make the one tragic mistake that could lead them back to smoking and the need for quitting over again--taking a puff on a cigarette. As far as it being an inconvenience, while reading and posting may take a chunk of time out of a smokers life the first few days, in all probability, there is nothing a smoker has to do the week that he or she is stopping that is as important as quitting smoking. Failure to touch base daily with us because of conflicts of time with social or even professional commitments makes about as much sense as a cancer patient skipping life saving chemotherapy treatments for the same events. Missing an entire day because of prior time commitments may jeopardize the quitting process or the long-term maintenance of smoking cessation. This may cost the person his or her life. In the long run, it will probably be viewed as an error in judgment by the patient as well as any significant others who recognize what was put at risk and what was lost in the process. For those who feel that Freedom didn't work, the fact is that the techniques taught here didn't fail, the smoker's implementation did. Only one recurrent theme runs through Freedom: if you don't wish to go back to smoking--NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! No one ever went back to smoking without disregarding that rule. Relapsing is an automatic admission that the smoker disregarded the basic principal taught at Freedom. As far as feeling that "I've heard it all before," being a relapser is evidence enough that the smoker did not hear it or comprehend it all before, or is the type of person who needs to hear it over and over again in order to keep believing it. Repeaters are people who have trouble initially accepting or keeping the concept of addiction alive. This trait is in all probability the reason why the ex-smoker originally relapsed, or maybe didn't stop at all the first time. He or she reached a point of complacency where it was believed that smoking could be controlled at an acceptable level. Smoking is an all or nothing proposition. The repeater must recognize the reason for the past failure and learn from the experience. Otherwise, he or she will be doomed to repeat it over and over again. If you have gone back to smoking, come in and try again. Once you quit smoking, do everything in your power to stay off. Come in for continued reinforcement and witness the mistakes of other past participants who got complacent. As far as addiction goes, it is much better to learn from others' mistakes than having to attend later due to your own. You just don't know whether you will ever have the strength, desire, or opportunity to quit the next time. In today's society, failing to stay off smoking carries long-term risks which include loss of social status, and respect of others; financial implications which range from supporting an addiction costing hundreds to thousands of dollars per year as well as possibly costing your job and career; and, most significantly, eventual loss of health, and possibly loss of life. Considering all of this, the choice to quit smoking and to stay off is an important one. To keep the ability to stay off smoking you need to always remember to NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! © Joel Spitzer, 2000 Edited July 1, 2018 by MarylandQuitter

3 we haven't had a spanking IN MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS !! shouldn't have let The Sticks out of The Fun Room.

I yelled, 'free your head' . Soon the word 'smoke' or anything related to it needn't be in your vocabulary anymore. You are free-ing yourself so beautifully, darcy !

@Irene, I hope you will stop obeying addiction and start on your quit smoking journey. It is a joyous journey of self-awareness and you will profit from the self-confidence and a profound trust in yourself when you stop poisoning yourself.

You are building a beautiful quit, HH. When our body or our mind called for some attention, we would often just light up a cigarette. When emerging from that veil of smoke, that often hid other issues, we begin to understand what our body/mind needs. Riffing On H.A.L.T. Aside from quitting, the manner in which you are switching up patterns reminds me of some experiments I did with myself after reading Chaos: Making A New Science by James Gleick. We are such creatures of habit, we do the same things the same way without thinking or knowing. It was eyeopening to switch things up and made me more aware and in the moment.