Reciprocity

If you're replying to something said in this thread @Nellie then this thread is the appropriate one to respond in

I never tried either of those but from stories I've been exposed to it seems like it's a godsend to some and a nightmare for others. You do whatever you feel you have to do in order to get started on your quit and what works is different for all but in my mind when you strip away all the hype and all the marketing magic, quitting eventually boils down to how badly you want to be quit and that desire (commitment) must last for days, weeks & months in order to solidify your long term quit. The moment you get over confident or just plain lazy in your quit process is the moment your junkie brain will successfully whisper sweet smoking lies to you and before you know it you're right back to the start again. Our addiction is crafty and smart. It lays low and rises up to strike us at our weakest monments. We must ALWAYS remain on guard! It becomes second nature the longer one remains quit.

It's a good thing you are recognizing your somking triggers @Nellie, as you mentioned above when making a recipe. By realizing when you habitually smoked, you can prepare yourself for when these triggers may come up throughout your day. Once you realize a trigger may be coming along, you can pay special attention to changing up that routine in some minor way so you don't follow your old smoker's way. I realized after I'd quit that the real job in not only quitting but more importantly staying quit is to become comfortable with little changes to your daily routine so you can overcome those triggers to smoke. It really is just rinse & repeat. Learning to live life again the way it was meant to be lived ... without cigarettes! You'll find that once you overcome each different trigger to smoke once, it's never really a challenge again because you'll know what to do instead of smoking. This is why it really takes a full year of living to really and truly completely quit. You have to face not only daily smoking triggers at least once but also seasonal triggers as well. Social gatherings, special holidays, change of seasons; all those thingsthat your mind will associate with smoking. It's certainly doable if you take things one day at a time. Don't look to far ahead and overwhelm yourself just small steps will get you to your desired goal

Nope! Not today.

@Nellie There's also a Games section on the site if you find yourself overwhelmed buy cravings and need something to focus your mind on for a bit. Also, we have a daily NOPE pledge section; The Daily Nope Pledge, where some of us like to pledge our daily promise to ourselves not to smoke just for today. In case you haven't heard of NOPE it stands for Not One Puff Ever! There's also an SOS section where you can go and ask for help if you feel you're losing control of your commitment not to smoke. Other members can come to your assistance to "talk you down".

Welcome to the Quit Train Nellie! My Grandmother on my mother's side was also a Nellie. In any case, I understand you situation. It's not unusual because it's difficult to keep focused on quitting long term. There's no magic bullet in overcoming that issue other than remaining absolutely committed to quitting long term. Every time you feel yourself becoming unfocused on a long term quit or becoming too over confident in the status of your quit, you must recognize that and stop yourself, giving yourself a talking to on what's important to you. You KNOW that just one will send you right back to the start again so why torture yourself by going through the early days of quitting again & again? Makes no sense does it? Try to stay focused on all the benefits of being a non-smoker. Better health, more $$ in your pockets and no longer hiding away several times a day only to satisfy your addiction to nicotine. It's crazy when you think about it in those terms. You have come to the right place to surround yourself with other quitters how've shared your struggle. It does help! Please take advantage of all the information available on this forum. Watch some of the videos that deal with this addiction and expose just how much of it makes no sense when you look at things practically. Hope to see you around!

Nope!

Saw that on the local news last night. Guess all the cat's prey is on the US side of the road

Nope!

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-3

What a great milestone @Gus! I hope you celebrated somehow or at least did something nice for yourself to mark the occasion.

-17

Can't say I ever did that but I expect perhaps it's just part of your quitting process to study in some depth that you never did before just what goes on when someone is smoking a cigarette. I bet you never even thought about it before when you were a smoker so now you're curious to examine precisely what happens when someone smokes. I doubt this will last long. Your curiosity will lessen and I expect you'll look at smokers differently in future. I remember my relationship with others smoking went through a couple of phases. Initially, I wasn't around any smokers as I quit in the dead of winter so being outdoors around people smoking h=just wasn't a part of those first two or three months for me. Then came the short phase where I noticed I could smell someone smoking from a distance, which shocked me because I related it to myself and thought ... "Oh my God! Did I really smell that badly to others around me who didn't smoke?" Then, about 7 months into my quit, we went to Vegas for a few days and of course everyone seems to be smoking there. That's when I began looking at smokers around me with pitty and that was the exact moment I KNEW I would never smoke again! It was at that moment I realized what a slave I'd been to my need for nicotine - just like these people I was watching who just had to have a smoke even when they were in the outdoor pool Now, I look at smokers with some level of distain like ... Oh my, get away from me please. That's so disgusting. I suppose Ive lost all patience with somkers which I shouldn't because I uderstand deep down just what it was like to be an addict completely oblivious to how others around me were affected by my disgusting habit. As I said earlier, I expect what you're going through is part of your divorce from smoking. Examining the whole process in a way you never did before. I think it's probably a good thing overall.

Great achievement @Lars! Be sure to reward yourself today. Rewards for these milestones are important. You're well on your way to being quit for life. Keep up the great work!

-15

-17

Nope!

-6

Nope!

Great news @tocevoD!! You really have seemed to put things in proper perspective this time around and that's a Winning Formula!