Kate18

NOPE

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Cold turkey. You see the advice above this post, and they're right. Why do you want to quit? Your reason has to overwhelm your reasons (rationalizations) to smoke. You can do this. Keep searching for your overriding reason to be a nonsmoker. Then it is possible. Willpower comes from having a strong enough reason. Not other people's reasons, but your reasons. You can do this. What other people have done, you can do. I'm betting on you.

Yup, you have another try in you. How do I know this without knowing you? Because I may be the queen of having made many stops (won't say quits, since I started in again), then started in again, but later made another stab at it. Now six months in. It is possible. Never quit on yourself, only quit on the cigarettes. Find your strong, overwhelming "why." It's the game changer. Lists of reasons may not do it. People who love you may not do it. But somewhere, there is a reason to quit. Your reason to quit. For me, it was knowing that if I caught the virus, I'd die and my kids would be devastated. Find your overwhelming "why," and the impossible becomes possible.

Nope

This afternoon, I took my dog, Sofia, on a walk through the park. Along the path we met a man with two small dogs who were straining aggressively at their leashes. Their owner was smoking a cigarette, deftly talking with me with it between his lips, the cigarette bobbing up and down as he talked, and the ash dropping to the ground. Terrible to admit, but the thought crossed my mind, "wonder if he has a cigarette to spare?" Sofia and I passed on after a brief meet and greet with his dogs, and I was left to ponder how I could think about smoking. Will I ever have no thoughts of smoking? I would never have asked him for a smoke. But it's a bit perturbing to have even thought about asking someone if they had a spare cigarette. I would have not smoked. No, it's not troubling, only a puzzle that the thought crossed my mind. I don't feel a pull of addiction. Just the oddity that asking someone for a cigarette would even cross my mind.

Not one puff EVER! Words for life, in any language! Nem uma tragada nunca Ni una bocanada nunca ਇਕ ਪਫ ਕਦੇ ਨਹੀਂ Ни одной затяжки Ekki einn púst nokkurn tíma Nemmeno un tiro mai Chan e aon puff a-riamh لا نفخة واحدة على الإطلاق 从来没有一个粉扑 Hakuna pumzi moja milele Hiç bir nefes değil אף נשיפה אחת לעולם Akukho nokukhahlela okukodwa Không một lần phồng କେବେବି ଗୋଟିଏ ପଫ୍ ନୁହେଁ | هیڅکله پف نه Ani jednego zaciągnięcia się

NOPE I just love buying stocks. I wouldn't be able to do this if I still smoked.

Ouuuh, planks, now that's a really good one to add to my goal chart. Before my gym went bankrupt and closed for good (darn virus), I could only do a 45 second plank, but I loved trying. I like this idea. Three minutes is serious. I also like the complimenting idea. I work as a cashier, and strive to have each customer leave my check stand a bit happier than when they first stepped up.

Today I was thinking about how I quit smoking after thinking for several years that it might be too difficult. Now I am mulling over other goals that have seemed nigh impossible, like getting myself to run for three miles every day, or doing 20 push ups the real way (a guy-type push up, not the girly version). Being successful at one tough goal is leading me to rethink what else I might be successful at that once didn't seem to be possible. Anybody else have this happen to them? Any successes? (Making chocolate chip raspberry walnut brownies as I think this through)

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Yes, I'd been there with making lists of "whys." I made a number of them along the way, trying to create a moment where the reasons on my list tipped the scale in my emotions in favor of quitting. I even had a tableau on my computer of photos of the terrible diseases smokers can get. They should have motivated me, but they didn't. For me, the tipping point came when the I saw that the virus would enter the US. I worked in an infectious diseases clinic at a medical center for a while and had seen maps of how a pandemic would spread around the world. In my gut I knew I was taking a terrible risk by continuing to smoke. That is what I mean by a "why." When you lease expect it, something causes an emotional switch where quitting smoking is now easier. It unfortunately took several years for that reason to arise for me. I guess all I can say is to stay open to it, which you already obviously are. Best of luck, Jeff

Discover your "Why?" "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." Friedrich Nietzsche I struggled on this forum and an earlier one for several years, stopping smoking, then restarting and disappearing from the forum until I could face another "quit." When the pandemic struck, I knew that if I got the virus, I was toast. My kids would never forgive me for having smoked and left them bereft long before I should have. That was my "why." I've had many cravings since, but no real drive to smoke again. Now, six months later, I feel like a nonsmoker, not a smoker who is just abstaining. You can do this. We all have faith in the process of quitting and in you!

Linda, you're walking steps that many people have tread before you...just keep putting one foot in front of another in the direction of clean living. Saying "no" to the impulse to go to the store is the first step, then turning your attention to any of the suggestions that have been made above is the second. Actually doing any of those suggestions is the third step. Lather, rinse, repeat. This is doable, others have done it, and therefore you can do it too. It feels sooooo good to get past a few weeks, and before you know it, it's a month. After that, things begin to feel more normal, not smoking feels more like a new normal. It'll get better, I promise you.

Seven, 7, what a great number! Congratulations on a wonderful, healthy accomplishment!

Well, I forgot to check in with the main discussion forum, and missed the voting by a couple of hours. Rats. However, I'd have voted for Freedom Force, and I see that it won the most votes, so no loss for my not voting. It sounds great. "May the Freedom Force be with You" all you newbees and wannabees. It's totally doable. Literally, if I can finally do it, you can too. Never give up on yourself. Find your "WHY?" and you will find a way

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NOPE My daughter just had a baby boy. Another reason to say N.O.P.E.

Hopefully the cruise ships will be running again in six months when I'm ready for the Lido Deck!

I LOVE this photo! It's about how I feel right now. All the years of being off and on the QSMB and now here are past, and I have finally arrived at a time when smoking is just a dim memory. How could I ever have smoked in the first place?! Did you know that -- did I mention -- I started smoking because my daughter was moving home from the college dorms? We were sitting outside under a dark, hot middle eastern sky on the porch swing, and she said she had to tell me something. "You're pregnant?" "NO!" She said, "I smoke." "No problem," says I. So I schemed. I started smoking for camaraderie and thought, "I'll smoke for a few months and then I'll quit and she'll see how easy it is, and she'll quit, too." Unbelievable hubris. She quit six years ago. She had quit during her pregnancy, but started in after she quit nursing the baby. She realized how stupid it was to go out on the porch and leave her toddler in the play pen, so she quit. And, speaking of stupid, I couldn't get myself to keep a quit. I struggled so hard and long. It just takes a big enough "Why," but I couldn't convince myself. Then the coronavirus hit, and that's all it took. Ya smoke, ya get the virus, ya die. I would probably have started up again by now, though, except that I've found the stock market. My portfolio is up more than 30% after less than three months, and I learn more every day about how to create and maintain a profitable portfolio. (I'm a buy and hold, not an active or day trader). Throughout all of this time, Doreen, I remember you being on the forum and so supportive. Your participation and support have meant a lot. Thank you Kate

Thanks. Just LOVE Morgan Freeman. One of my all time favorite actors! So happy he's cheering for me