Reciprocity

What happened? I thought you Brits were winning early on ? I must admit. I had to look up where Croatia even is.

Sorry to hear this story tD. Sadly, you're not alone. Many others have buckled to the draw of this addiction even after long term quits. Reasons are different but really don't matter in the end. I'm sure at the time you first smoked (the family gathering) it didn't seem like a big deal but guess what? You awakened those receptors in your brain that were alive and well when you were a smoker. Enter the urges, the craves and sadly, the theft of your freedom once again. You're looking for reasons to stay quit this time? Freedom! Freedom to do what you want when you want and not be controlled by this addiction. You said it yourself: "smoking during the time I have with my son. A little 10 minutes here and there leaving the room to have a ciggie matters to him. He notices when I leave the room." You wouldn't do that if you were with him as a non-smoker right? You are no longer in control of your life my friend - the addiction is!! Freedom from being a slave to this addiction is a Biggie! Go for it tocevoD

Ahhhhh .... poor little squealer ?

^^^^

ST OO Me +1

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Congratz on being 22! Wish I was 22 again ?

Congrats on reaching the 2 month smoke free milestone kbc! You may not be out of the woods just yet but things are a lot less intense than that 1st month I bet. Be sure to reward all your hard work then push on to month 3

Hey Moom! Congrats on reaching 11 months!! Stop by and let us know how you are. Love to hear from you. Maybe you're packing your cruise clothes for next month?

It's hard for me to tell the difference between an urge and just a thought about having a smoke. I don't feel I have had any real urges or cravings to smoke in some number of months but do I still have thoughts about smoking .... yes I do. I think we always will just because we were once smokers. It will never be like you didn't ever smoke. Not possible to erase those imprints on your brain but, the longer we go without smoking, the easier it gets to manage those thoughts. When we start out in our quit we are so focused on how bad smoking is for us and how it isn't our friend and does nothing good for us but then, as our quits become more mature, those negative impressions of smoking fade somewhat and memories of how we thought smoking was so satisfying back in the day can start to creep into your brain again. Ah yeah! Maybe just one for old time sake? A couple of puffs won't hurt cuz I've been quit now for over a year so I'm no longer addicted really. I don't know how many times that very reasoning has been the cause of a relapse for a long term quitter. Allowing yourself to get into that mindset were you start romancing the cigarette even just a little is the most dangerous thing you can do after a long term quit. It's not hard at all to stay quit after awhile but it's very easy to relapse if you don't control your thoughts about smoking. Instead of thinking how we could have just one, think about how devastated you would feel immediately after having just one. That's the reality!

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Hey congrats Zeezazz! This is the best thing you can do for yourself, and I'm sure you already know that. Yes, the freedom from this addiction is one of the biggest benefits I think I would give hubby the heads-up that you are quitting. You will likely be "on edge" anyway in the early days so better he knows why right? In terms of weight gain, that you can deal with as you build your quit by trying to eat right and some exercise. There's even and page on here dealing with that. I hope to see you around noping every day Z. Let's make this your forever Quit!

I felt tired early in my quit as well ST! I remember I couldn't wait until bedtime each night because I was just exhausted from battling the cravings and the what seemed like constant urge to smoke. And yes, time distortion was the worst. Time seemed to be standing still during those early days. This is where I had to just dig deep and rely on my unwavering commitment That worked and here I am today. Smoking .... doesn't interest me in the least. You CAN do it. We all have it within us to do it. Just want it badly enough to put up with the early days of adjustment. You will get there just as we all do.

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