Reciprocity

I agree that education about the smoking addiction plays a key role in helping us not only quit but stay quit. Once you truly understand AND believe in the fact that smoking does nothing positive or good for you, it becomes easier to battle the addiction AND to remain smoke free longer term. Truly amazing that he would still think of actually going back to smoking after that long a quit. My wife has been quit for about 15 years now and she admits that occasionally, she thinks that she would like to have a smoke but it's a fleeting thought more than anything else - certainly not a crave. She kind of laughs when she talks about it. I know she would never seriously even consider taking it up again - just wouldn't happen. I was the black sheep - smoking all those years after she quit :P

Don't be taken in Boo ............................. after a while it'll be ..............................

-11

-12

Hopefully the over-worked days won't last too long and you can finally get more rest. Tough to get through that stuff when you're already a little outta whack due to your new non-smoking life style. Just keep that quit going no matter what :)

NOPE FOR ME TOO!

You're gonna hit this one outta the Park Stewie !!

OK ...... this is weird..................................

-1

The weather was not too bad today so I went out to the back deck and guess what I found? That disgusting old butt-can from last year where I USED to toss all my cancer stick remnants. Been out there all winter. Got no use for it now so, it's outta there :)

-7

Oh Man ...................... I had that one too. Was trying to work it into "Bakon Goes Surfing!" at some point. Guess I better delete it now :(

-9 :(

-7

Well, that's odd that they would take up smoking like that, unless they were previously quit and just started up again? Makes it tough when the hubby quit with you but then didn't really. All those smokers around isn't the ideal situation but, just remember - quitting is a selfish thing. You quit for yourself and YOUR future benefit so you just keep it that way regardless of what other's are doing around you. My quit is pretty new still and I'm finding out a lot of stuff about quitting that I never even imagined. I never want to go through this process again so I have been making sure that as things come up that challenge me, I do whatever I need to do to keep on track. It's not easy at times but I also know it will get easier the longer I keep at it. If you feel challenged from time to time, come here even if it's just to read some of the stuff us newbies are posting up. It may help to remind you of just what you went through when you first stared your quit. That might give you pause to consider what's at stake should you ever even consider to take that one puff again at some point. As for the chics/sticks thing, yeah; we're pretty much pounded into the ground mostly. We did have a run going for a week or so a while ago. Not sure what the hell happened.

^^^ Yes, I too wonder what's ahead once this insufferable winter weather turns to lovely warm spring days. Slipping outside to my back deck for a smoke was such a prominent part of my weekend routine. Will be kind of weird not doing that now. Maybe I'll take up walking around the block or something. Never had any interest in doing that before but, it may be a nice distraction now :)

Ahhhh ........ NOPE !!

-6

Where the hell is Sonic? Haven't seen him in a while. He's gonna miss the party if he isn't back soon.

-7

Let's get started with a proper drink!

I'm new here so you don't know me but 1st of all; congrats on your quit! That's an amazing achievement. Secondly, there's no more room in the Chicks or Sticks game so you can't log into that thread, despite what D might tell you. Lastly, do not go back to smoking - ever. There's NO upside to that now that you've come this far :)

Let's hope your little friend Nancy isn't an early riser! -7

-7

I just wanted to give a big shout-out to all the people here who are still under a year quit in particular. You have both my appreciation and in a way, my sympathy because; I too am among you. We rightfully give a lot of attention to the very new quitters because they are in a new and fragile battle with their addiction but after a month or so, meh ..... you're on your own more or less. You're then at that point when your friends and family just wish you'd stop talking about your quit and just be a normal person again .... haha ..... if only eh? Ummmm ... Hello! We're still struggling a bit in trying to figure out what normal is. We used to get up in the morning and light up a smoke before we even had our coffee (or tea). Now we just get up and skip the smoke part. We used to drive to work and smoke before we got to where ever it is we were going. We then used to figure out whether we needed to buy more smokes to last the day before getting home in the evening. We then had to plan when we could go outside to have "a smoke break". Is it raining today? Is it horribly cold today? All that time spent figuring out our smoking routine. Then drag our sorry a**es back home in the evening smoking in the car along the way feeling like a hamster running on a wheel. We are so glad to be rid of all that crap, honestly we are!! But; what the hell do we do now with all this extra time? A lot of our subconscious day was filled with figuring out or planning smoking related issues. Those are all gone now and we don't know what to do to fill those hours productively. Yes, it amounts to hours per day. Is it any wonder we feel lost, anxious and rather irritable at times? We will slowly begin to figure all this stuff out. Like the beginning part of our quit, it will be so gradual we will hardy realize it but slowly that time will be filled with productive stuff. I don't even know what that stuff will be myself at this point but it will be non-smoking related stuff. Those that are at a year or more I expect realize this already. It's those of us who are not there yet but also not still newbies that need to figure this stuff out on our own and we must do this without the overwhelming support we had during the early part of our quit - aside from the support we may get on sites like this (which is a blessing I might add). So; this is why I want to recognise this group of under 1 year quitters. It's not easy but it's something we must do and will do with the support of people here that have already been where we are! Let's raise a glass to each other!