Reciprocity

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Nice one @catlover! The years just keep adding up, which is the way it should be! I hope you're chillin' today and still feeling the pride in what you accomplished 6 years ago!

Yes, great post Q.G.! It encapsulates what we've all felt after we joined this site. Actually, that's why I choose the screen name I did. The definition of Reciprocity is: "The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit." which is what I figured this place would be all about. When we first arrive all scatter-brained in the early days of our quit we receive help from those that went before us and once our quits are more secure, we then pay it forward by helping others who have just quit and are trying to find their way. It really is the perfect scenario and is what makes this place so special!

Chris -1 Me 0

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7 Years Feb. 1st - Woohoooo is right! Congrats @catlover 😺

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Play bubble bull ring!

Hi @c9jane29! Good to hear from you. You're getting close to 7 years yourself

Yay @Elena! Do tell us more. We love hearing success stories

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It's so true what Jillar said about the smell of stale smoke on a person to people who don't smoke! I never realized this until I was quit for a few months. Someone walked in from outside and walked close by me. I could small him before I even saw him. I was shocked and also embarrassed at the same time because that was me for years and years and I never had a clue what others were thinking when I walked by them. I couldn't smell what they smelled on ME because I was a smoker!

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I'm glad you posted this @susie14! It helps the rest of us understand where your head is at both with smoking and trying to quit. Let me clarify something for you about using NRT's ... no one here is saying "don't use them". We were discouraging you from starting to use them two days in because one more day and the nicotine would have been out of your body so starting then would have been a step backward. If you think they will help next time, by all means give them a try when you start your quit. Just be aware, they may help to suppress the cravings a little in the early days but they do not make it any easier to quit longer term. The longer term challenge with quitting is learning to live your daily life without smoking at the times when you're used to smoking right now. There's no way to rush that. It just takes time. Rinse & repeat, rinse & repeat on and on, over and over until it's just normal not to smoke during the times you used to smoke. During that process the cravings to smoke and most all the quit symptoms will fade away slowly be steadily. Give some concentrated thought to when you smoke. Do you smoke when you first wake up in the morning? Do you usually smoke after a meal? Do you smoke when you're happy about something? Do you smoke when you're under stress? Identifying when you're likely to smoke will help you to understand when you really have to focus on not lighting up. Triggers can often come along after finishing a task - homework perhaps in your case or some other chore you might regularly do. All these subtle little things that trigger our brains to crave a smoke are the things you need to find a distraction for when they crop up once you've quit. It's really a matter of getting through these normal everyday functions without smoking and repeating that over and over again until it starts to become normal for you again not to be triggered to smoke when those circumstances come up in your daily life. Maybe start keeping a log of what's going on when you smoke. What time of day, what has happened just before you lit one up. What your emotions are at the time you light up. Was it a function you were performing or an emotion you were feeling? Just write stuff down each time you light up until you start to see a pattern. That will help you to understand when you have to be most on guard next time you quit. You sound committed to getting it done and that's a GREAT start! You know you can rely on many people here for support & help along the way. We all want what you want - to be smoke free!!

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