Kate18

Thanks, Doreen. Remember the QSMB days, when I failed miserably, repeatedly? I was desperately wanting Year One. And here it is four years. Amazing. Time flies.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the acknowledgement. I can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!!!!! There were so many failed starts. But, that old Covid threat -- in my mind, I was sure I'd die if I got it and I was still a smoker -- got me to quit and stay quit. And I finally did get Covid, a couple of months ago, and breezed through it. No lung issues. Because I am saving money by not buying cigarettes, I can afford a 2nd dog to keep dog #1 company while I am at work. Gabriela joined us two months ago from a Humane Society shelter. She is reportedly 8 years old, but I suspect she is a bit younger - 5 or 6. She is so playful and frisky. She loves her stuffed squirrel (not a real one!) So much more we can do when we aren't spending our money on poison. Thanks, all.

Yaay Brioski, Congratulations!

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Yaay!!! Congratulations!

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Congratulations on 11 months!!!

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How are you, Linda? Whatever is happening, the outcome is better without a cigarette.

Just love Wallabys. Never met one, so I suppose it's the idea of a kangaroo or a wallaby. Cute faces.

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Congratulations!

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For me, what has kept me quit is my "Why?" Doing it for my kids or my general health wasn't enough. It took Covid's arrival to give me solid resolve. But my Why has changed. Covid is no longer the threat it was in the first year. Now, I see the positive results of almost fours of being quit, and there is no way I'd go back. The thousands of dollars I've saved is a motivator. I love seeing the dollars mount in my ticker when I post. My Why has also become not wanting any more health problems that I already have from smoking. "Why?" may change, but there has to be a big one in the beginning. It is important to remember that who we were - smokers - does not define who we can be now.

Hi Linda, how are you doing now? I was a serial quitter/relapser, but never quit digging to find the deepest "why should I quit" that I could. For me, it was the spread of Covid across Asia. I knew it was coming here and I felt certain that, if I got it, I'd die because of compromised lungs. The week following my quit (February something) Covid was discovered in the States about 15 miles north of me, in a retirement home in Kirkland, WA. (It was here sooner; it just hadn't been found until then.) With a good enough reason, initial crash and burns don't matter. We don't give up. And then we win. Elon Musk - I Don't Ever Give Up Gangsta's Paradise.mp4

NOPE. Even after all this time, I caught myself "romanticizing the cigarette" today with another former smoker. But there is nothing romantic about it.

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I used to have them available, also. For the past few months, not. I get the "unavailable" message. So I've been using photos on Unsplash, Pixaby, and other royalty-free photos.

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Congratulations! What a milestone!

Yaay! You're on a role. Past all the "threes!"

Closer and closer to the Lido Deck...congratulations on 7 months free! (And thank you to the Pineapple Company for the free use of their photo on Unsplash.)

Congratulations on 7 years, Gary! (Thanks to Patti Black and Unsplash for the free-to-use photo!)