Reciprocity

15

Hi Clarosa A lot of good advice already. You seem to know what you need to do now, it's just the actually doing it, which is always the hard part. Quitting is tough for most. Knowledge about this addiction and how it acts on us both mentally and physically is very important to being able to over come it. That and a determined effort on your part as well as support from others doing the same thing. When you bring all these things together, it's a winning combination

I was also pretty quick to get angry about minor tings when I was in the early stages of my quit. I think it's pretty common. As others have said though, when tat happens, try to remove yourself from the situation, take some deep breaths to calm yourself then try to focus on something else that is of interest to you. This unwelcome symptom of the early quit will not stay with you forever - that's the good news and with each of these battles you do withing yourself, you will get stronger! Stick with it Novo

Jo! Now that the Leafs are gone in the first round, as usual, you now need to attach your wagon to Pittsburgh Penguins! That's the team with, Cindy "Cry-Baby" Crosby as captain. You'll be entertained with plays like this .................. Or this ...................................................... He make footie dives look respectable Oh well ..... at least they don't have to worry about flooding the ice between periods with Cindy around. Plenty of water works when he's playing ............................... I better go now before Bakon logs on. He's Pitts biggest fan and I'm pretty sure he has a loaded gun

Big congratulations Ras for reaching this very important milestone! You are through the hardest part now so be sure to treat yourself before you carry on and make your quit even stronger:)

Lots of great advice above and see how much support you are getting in a place like this? That's also a great tool for you in your quit too Be sure to spend as much time here reading all you can about this addiction. Knowledge about this addiction and how if works will be the most important tool in helping you quit. You will still have to do some heavy lifting during your journey whether you use an NRT product or not. That's just part of the deal but the rewards you will get are well worth the effort. Stick around this place. It will be good for you to relate to other quitters.

What the Leafs are Best at ..................

I remember the last Leafs/Bruins series some years ago. Leafs were up I think 4-1 late in the 3rd period and somehow managed to blow that game in overtime It was shocking to say the least. You never know what will happen.

Just a reminder, especially for Newbies. Use the SOS page please if you are feeling overwhelmed at some point in your quit. That's why it's there and there's always someone around to throw you a life-line It's not an imposition. On the contrary. It's an opportunity for one or more of us to lend you some timely support. It not only helps you but it will help the people lending support too. I review the celebration list every day and see people silently slipping away from us far too often, which is why I'm posting this message. Today alone I saw three people on my list who have not even logged on in over a month. Saddens me to think they have just silently slipped off the train without giving themselves and all of us a chance to save their quit. I hope they have kept their quit and just decided they no longer wanted to participate here but logic would suggest that's probably not the case. Remember too, there's even a "Pre Respond to You Own SOS" thread on the SOS page where you can write a meaningful note to yourself to be read by you in a moment of crisis. Check it out. Posting doesn't cost you anything but a little time and it might just be the most important post you ever make! I get it that some may just want to go back to smoking for whatever reason and they don't want to be "talked off the ledge" but just think about it for a moment. What if YOU had say a month or two quit going when some life event happens and suddenly you feel overwhelmed with a desire to go buy a pack and light one up but before you did that, you posted an SOS. A few people here post up and their words are enough to convince you it just isn't worth throwing away all that hard work you've already put in. Your quit is saved!!! Hey, it happens. It happens as long as you give us and even more importantly yourself a chance to take a step back and reconsider . Some of us are reluctant to call out for help when we're struggling because we think others may see it as a sign of weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth. It takes guts to reach out and it shows you are committed to this process. There's no weakness in doing that. Weakness is just giving up without even trying to save your quit. Please don't slip away without giving yourself a chance at letting others who care help you save your quit! I don't want to see YOUR name on my celebrations list and wonder; "What the heck happened to them?

Feels great to be a non-smoker now right? You have shown you can control the addiction instead of the addiction controlling you. That's the best part - freedom from that damned addiction!! Be proud of what you have accomplished

^^^ That's it! Years of conditioning as a smoker so now it' reconditioning as a non-smoker Just takes time is all.

16

3-3 in the 2nd now. It should be a tight one!

Oh ............. that's what they're called. I see ...................

And why would you need those pages laminated?

7

You're doing the right thing by repeating these positive things to yourself because .... it's all true! Smoking doesn't do 1 damn thing good for you. It only compels you to keep feeding it's horrible addictive self every waking hour of each day and you don't need that anymore. You're way better off without it! Yes, it's a battle to get there but it will be so worth your time and effort Keep going because that's what it takes. It's more of an endurance event than a sprint. The intensity of what you are going through right now will fade soon enough but the work will continue to make sure you have the strongest quit possible. One that will last a lifetime. Enjoy the experience because it will be like no other and hopefully, you will never have to repeat it.

Three (I think?)

6

Seven

Up ...up ..... See BOO go UP!!

That's how it goes Sunny. It really does take a long time to reprogram our brains to function without smoking. As you said, it's so ingrained in us that we just automatically fall back to what we have trained ourselves to do. Now, you need to think about all that stuff which is exactly how we retrain our brains. It's a slow process but it does happen.

Yeah, I remember being exactly there Rusty so you are not alone in what you are feeling. It's early days and you are in the thick of those initial battles with your addiction. You just need to buckle down and get through these days. They won't last long. Distract yourself in whatever way you can so you don't focus on those cravings. Deep breathing exercises work great to calm yourself. Remember, every battle you do against those cravings, they will get weaker and you will actually get stronger. Just don't smoke anything because YOU are now a non-smoker