Markus

That's it...thanks for the bump!?

Thanks all for paying it forward because thats really important to cement that quit.The years roll up under you. It only drags on for a short time. I actually forgot my quit date, I thought it was Feb 11 but I got it straight now and was reading Divers 5 year, apparently she missed it (Jen). This only proves that quitting causes absent mindedness in some people. Seriously though we retrain ourselves as Cristobal just mentioned, and are always retraining until we address every single trigger. I love that ancient post from the qsmb, I think its called "My Personal Assistant". It really is an accurate depiction of the human brain processing life after quitting and how it keeps track of what you have addressed or not with regard to triggers. You don't have to be strong, just learn to roll with it and it's yours. It's just a mind game. KTQ

Great message, we all can stay quit under the meanest of circumstances, because it's a choice and that's all it is. They blow smoke in our faces in any circumstance, we're quit for life, lending some dignity and meaning to the concept of QUIT. How many have we had die in our personal lives and on this and the other board after quitting? We didn't go running off to smoke, too strong for that. I know off at least 10 in my life but I'm old but it will come at you so be ready. Doreen so very sad to read of your loss, I wish I had been around... KTQ Markus

Right Carry on lol.

Jo, now that's how you test a quit. My wife and I have lost her dad and my dad to lung cancer, and lost her mom, all in the last year to five years ago. DW has never quit. I never threw away my quit 5 years ago. I won't be smoking at her funeral but she'll be smoking at mine. It's a choice, and a matter of self control. That's all it is. GREAT Post! KTQ

Thanks Jillar?

I haven't been around that much but I was here yesterday and was glad to see all of the long quits. I haven't written in a few years but would like to post a few thoughts about the quit process. Looking at the new and young quits, and the never-ending fight to gain a foothold on the sticky quit, I just wanted to let the newer quits I see on the QT know, that you'll get there too, by sticking to your plan and what you will learn as you stay quit. This is only a mind game, where your self control is being tested constantly. It wears on you as you overcome the triggering of craves through attrition, trying to process them simply as your mind/body healing itself naturally through recognition and reaction. That someting so elementary is so taxing is hard to understand sometimes. It really requires no action other than acknowledgement of the particular craving and the processing of it. Repetition is the key. The first triggers and craves that you will defeat are the ones you encounter the most. The most infrequent ones are the last to fall, and they do, through repetition. If you will just keep doing your normal daily and nightly activities sans the nicotine delivery, eventually you'll roll over the addiction and leave it behind. Sounds overly simplistic reading this but remember that you will trigger and crave and try to understand what caused it. Don't be alarmed and dont make a hasty judgement, because sometimes you can't put your finger on the particular cause to your effect. Could be romancing the cigarette subconsciously and missing that old smoky life, since things have changed and you don't know who you are sometimes. I mean you were this... smoker... and now maybe scared and are wanting to go back to what you see as normal. That is when you get tough and remember that you control your own mind and heart and that you call the shots. It's okay to feel weak, but know that you didn't get this way in a few days so it will take a few months of honest work to get out of the hole. You will make it, even if you feel like you won't. This will not kill you but it will make you unbelievably strong if you'll just stick to your quit plan and your back up plan, and allow yourself some time to heal. So be militant anti smoking, and remember that you are in a fight and that you are unwinding your whole being from the addiction so walk like it and act like it. Once smoking and cigarettes were every part of you, and now...well now they are not. That hurts and that is painful, but it is the work you have to do, so let the process work. Pay it forward, and stay as strong as you can as you use what you have learned. And if you fall, it isn't the end. You start again. A dream becomes a wish, and that wish becomes your reality as you work the quit. Time is on your side now, so dont give that addiction any more of you. You're in control of your mind and body and you've taken the chains off. Don't put them back on. KTQ,

So glad to see all of those 5 year quits...you guys rock!

Sorry I haven't been around. Glad to see all the quitters, it really does require some work, but very attainable.

Excellent. Great milestone!

Great job MQ. Really awesome milestone! Sorry I'm late as ever . Just wanted to say thanks for the home and place to crash and burn, and for the dancing girl admins in the wayback...still quit here as well. ?

Awesome! Congrats on your 6 years Bakon...Great job!

Great job congrats to you!

Awesome Rez, great accomplishment congrats on 5 years smoke free!

Congrats on your 5 years?it's really a great milestone!

Great job in staying quit...congrats to you.

Thanks miss you

Hi All! I hit the 10 year quit mark February 19th. It's no secret, this game of attrition, watching the months turn to years, and seeing the years stack up. It used to be a war though, and anti-smoking militancy is very important when you quit. Passion is a must and you need to feel that and want it more than anything. So this is it isn't it? Isn't 10 years the time when we are supposed to be back to "normal", and you should be as if you never smoked? Normal is a relative term, but appropriate here given that the process of quitting views the nicotine addiction as an abnormality, which it is. If you quit. A couple of things I learned over the years is that you can't quit for someone else, and that smoking was a really bad choice, something I started in my childhood that I carried along for decades because I was addicted by choice. Sometimes it requires standing on the outside and looking in to see something for what it is. The impulse, the whim that I quit on, gave me some precious time to unwrap my life from addiction and allowed me to try to get my head around it. Being here off and on has given me a place to think, write and read about how we deceive ourselves to perpetuate our addiction. I have read that a person has marginally better odds of staying quit by belonging to, and being reinforced by the membership of a forum like this one. These quit anniversaries are important, especially early on, as they reinforce the wisdom of the finally making the right choice and sticking with it. Carry on and keep the quit, it's worth it! Regards, Markus quit 02-19-2008

How did they do it? They wanted it just like you, and were willing to do what they had to, to make it stick. The common thread in all quits is choice, a timeless tradition, just like smoking is. People who quit forever chose to stay smoke free and over time the quit stuck, not to say they didn't relapse and start all over again. That's a world of pain unto itself. We do the same thing now, just like they did. We quit. Only we have a place to write about our "feelings". You don't need a forum for quitting but it can help, and you do learn rather quickly that nobody can quit for you. And it's a lot more fun socializing for the long term denizens, than working on someone's miserable addiction. Markus quit 02-19--2008

I forgot about this post. I am still around, my quit is good, going on 10 years. Wow, I feel old. I turned 60 this year. We have 8 grandchildren. Congrats to all of you doing the tough slogging, nothing worth having is easy! And it does get better...it just takes some time. I read a post on the Quit Train earlier. One of the members forgot to think about smoking recently! She's won a battle, and is on the way to winning the war. I remember that feeling... Forgot to think about smoking...sweet, you just gotta love that/ :)

Thanks Bakon, You guys ought to put your own big quits out there and celebrate them on this forum. Just an idea. That's what people are looking for, life after. It's that affirmation of years, it will help newbies see that it's survivable if they stick with it. Still wonder about those hundreds of window lickers, where did they all go? I'll be around...

Thank you all. A part of the quit is that point time when one finally leaves to walk that path alone, and without support. You don't need it anymore, you are free to walk unafraid of relapse, from the smell, the sensation, and the insanity of associations. Only time served will allow this to happen. Just checking in...based on what I have written. If and when I die from cancer if I am able, I will try to do what like jwg did, and will let you all know I am going so you don't need to wonder. Nobody gets out alive. But, lend some dignity to the rest of your life as you live it. Don't ever smoke again. So simple. Regards, Markus

Hi Quit Train... It's been awhile, I should have checked in sooner.. . I'm glad to say I am 9 years quit smoking today. Journey started 02-19-2008. It really isn't a big deal anymore, I wanted to check in and let you know I am alive. I have had thoughts of how it was with people leaving, wondering where do they go, and are they relapsed, are they okay. I do read some of the posts once in awhile. Don't want to be a contributor anymore, too toxic for an addictive personality like mine. News; My dad died of cancer Dec 29th, and was laid to rest Jan 3rd with an Honor Guard at his funeral, 1st Infantry Division he was US Army retired, a first sergeant. He was 83 years old and had been quit for 30 years or so. Esophagal cancer, he lasted 2 months after diagnosis. I knew about Beth from lurking last year when she passed, That hurt, she was all heart and soul, and quick to be friends as she was to do battle Life ain't fair GL but she died like we all will, non-smokers. I read the QT tribute thread today. Nice. DW is still puffing away, proof you cannot help someone else quit, one of the things I have learned on my voyage. Going solo is good. Free of that affliction, real pronounced sense of smell, any kind of smoke. Congrats to all of the long quits = MQ, Babs, (Nicole J Diver), Coleen, Sarge, Nancy, Doreen, Sonic, Mfic, Chrispy, Traci & hubby, Jenny, Lisa, BAT, bakon, DD, Stuart, Marti, Beacon, Sonic, Evelyn, Sharonsiff, Petra,. Jimmy, Sazarec, Christobal, Joe, and anyone I may have missed...all of you going into the long years. Keep that quit. Anyone reading this who is thinking of quitting or is shaky stay with a support group, your odds are better in being successful I'll check in again, account is still active. MQ never terminated me. Send me a PM or e-mail if you want to. MQ, thanks man for creating an alternative home away from where a lot of us came from. Cheers, Markus

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I can tell you that OP probably would have helped an SOS, and that's why it was put there. So yes, it's all about geography and the heavy fukin moderation. Whoever moved it, be proud of yourself. It aint comin back to discussions. It's going on SOS if it goes anywhere. I didn't keep a record of it so fuk you, you wanna see it? You post it.