Reciprocity

Welcome back D! Don't be in a hurry to review the carnage in Chicks or Sticks

OK 20!!

Congrats @Sunshine59! Keep rolling smoke-free.

18

18 Sticks inching along toward Victory .........

What if my dog only brings the ball back because he thinks I like throwing it?

Nope!

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That's why there's only one rule in quitting; NOPE (Not One Puff Ever) Not easy sometimes but really a very simple concept.

12

Pretty much sums up our day on the lake

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Well; it was a beautiful day! Sunny and about 72 degrees with almost no wind so nice for a day on the lake. Fish were chillaxing too I guess because we only got 1 I caught it but am not great at taking them off the hook as they seem to be pretty angry at that point

7

I'm pretty sure it's already too late for him in terms of some sort of lung issues. I noticed this year he's coughing a lot more than he ever did before yet his consumption has not reduced. As you well know, continuing along that road will only make things worse ... much worse. I'm afraid he may be someone who just doesn't have it in him to put up with the initial sacrifices and do the really hard work it takes to quit successfully. His life situation has been such that he's never had to do that in other areas of his life. (Dad/Mom own a company where he has a job - notice I didn't say 'works'? I wonder if parents who do that sort of thing with their kids, protecting them from life, ever understand that they're doing them a huge disservice? Adversity builds character!)

Yesterday I went fishing with a long time buddy. We don't see each other much these days cuz we live a good 1.5 hour drive apart but we try & get out fishing once a year at least. I drove to his place and we left from there to the boat launch which is about an hour & a half drive. I know he smokes but I don't usually drive in the same vehicle as him so no biggie but yesterday I was in his truck so his rules I suppose. I wasn't gonna say anything but oh man, the smell of those cigarettes were really quite strong. I used to kind of like the smell of freshly smoked cigs but not anymore. They were pretty disgusting Not only does he smoke cigarettes but he alternates between those and smoking'joints. I know he's a pot smoker too but again ... when you're right beside him in the cab of a truck ... WOW, overwhelming! And here's the other thing I didn't know, he now vapes as well I was sort of amazed at the way he coordinated it all. When to light a smoke, when to smoke a doobie and when to suck on the vape pen. Of course I didn't say anything cuz as we all know, talking to any smoker about their indulgence never goes well. They just shut down and shut you out so there's really no point but, he did ask me at one point if I had used any product to help me quit or if I just went cold turkey. I told him my story and basically just told him there's no magic potion that's gonna do the work for you. You really, really have to want to quit and put in the work for the long haul. I kind of gathered he was starting to think about quitting. I certainly hope so because he's in his mid-50's now and has been smoking ever since I've known him. I think he's got some health issues now and they are likely linked directly to smoking but he's pretty hard-core so it's not gonna be easy for him and that bothers me cuz he's a bit of a dreamer ... focus & hard work are NOT his forte

six

If you rip a hole in a net, there are fewer holes in the net than before you did.