Genecanuck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ond4Wp9nPhM

Good morning. Parnter continues to smoke outside and I don't join him anymore and this is becoming our new norm. BUT an odd thing happened. He brought home nicotine patches from work. Leftover stock. He did not say he was going to quit smoking but said they were there when he thought he was ready to make an attempt. Maybe he is in some kind of a pre-contemplation mode about quitting because I don't smoke anymore? I won't focus on that because I am not quitting for him but I really do he also quits smokng one day.

When Does It Get Easier?, Quitnet Re-Post, April 23, 2005 From peggy_c on 4/23/2005 7:34:01 PM `When I noticed I was here to quit, and so any contrary thought had to be some kind of mistake... It got better. When I stopped saying `craving` when I meant `I feel like crap from decades of poisoning myself`... It got better. When I stopped saying `I need a smoke` when I meant `I`m stressed and need to relax`... It got better. When I noticed that a bunch of my stress was caused by struggling against wanting to do something that I didn`t want to do any longer... It got better. When I understood it wasn`t cigarettes that I wanted, but only some of what they provided... It got better. When I realized that almost all of what smoking provided was relief from symptoms caused by smoking (so not smoking at all was the way to fix it)... It got better. When I noticed that everything else smoking provided I could have without killing myself or wasting my cash or time... It got better. When I saw that the simple joys of living free beat the pants off of the best smoking had to offer... It got better. When I saw that the tailpipe of a city bus smelled better and had far fewer poisons... It got better. When I realized that I was not depressed about `missing my buddies` or going crazy, but instead experiencing a temporary chemical imbalance that made me feel depressed, irritable, or anxious... It got better. When I realized that the problem was not with my willpower, motivation, or commitment - that the problem was with believing smoking`s lies and misunderstanding my body`s messages... It got better. When I understood that addiction meant that with just one puff I would fall back in, not that I had to live with desire or craving for one second longer than I chose to... It got better. The things that really make a quit are those moments when you realize that the whole idea of smoking was a collection of false beliefs, mistakes, and misunderstandings. Once you see the truth, smoking ceases to be an issue. Chemistry and habit may grind at you for a few more weeks, but smoking will never again be a threat, never again be something that is desired. You will be free.` So you see it has no bearing on time but on attitude and knowledge and believing the truth thats when it all gets better!! *********************************************

Congratulations to everyone who has made it a decade, smoke free!!

Raptor

Not one puff or nicotine patch ever!

Blue (Da Ba Dee) (Video Edit) Eiffel

Mole

Transition from being smokers to ex-smokers, Quitnet Re-post, May 9, 2005 I do not know if I have posted this before, but its worth posting and reading it again. Keep your quit. Gene From DabL on 5/9/2005 5:00:14 PM From Smokers to Ex (repost) From Traveler24 on 6/24/2007 11:53:12 PM I see alot on here tonight saying there nervous about quitting. Dont be afraid the actual anticapation is worse than doing it. Heres a post I thought might help explain it a lil better and maybe even help those who are struggling tonight! Together we can do this!! Bill D21 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ transition from being smokers to ex-smokers From DabL on 5/9/2005 5:00:14 PM The transition from being smokers to ex-smokers. One of the things we face as quitters is the transition from being smokers to ex-smokers. Early in your quit, you're a smoker in withdrawal. Eventually, you're a smoker who's not using. At some point, you do actually become an EX-smoker. It's a scary transition for anyone to undergo mentally. Years upon years of memories are associated with smoking. A mountain of stressful situations that we dulled (and in doing so, partially avoided dealing with) by administering nicotine. The belief that we NEED that drug to get through these situations in the future. In a sense, we're newborns, facing a new world, and not sure what to expect. We're children, and children are often frightened by the unknown. As our conscious decision to reach out to this new world and embrace it becomes more and more real and tangible, the fear within us makes us want to run back, grab the security blanket, and hide under the covers. It's like the monster under the bed. And, like the monster under the bed when we're small, the best way to deal with the unknown is to face it, to understand it. As long as we hide under the blankets, the monster under the bed grows bigger, scarier, more menacing. Once we finally get the courage to lean over the mattress, and stare under the box spring... only then do we understand there's nothing to be frightened of. If we avoid looking under the bed, seeing the "monster" for what it is, we risk letting that "monster" dominate our conscience, and drive our actions. Right now, you're dealing with your monster. There's the fear of failure (you've been down this road before). There's the fear of success (oh my God, what am I going to do now that I won't have cigarettes to help me?). And there is the voice in your ear telling you things: You want a cigarette, you can handle JUST one, you NEED just this one, this crave is going to last forever, this crave is unbearable, quitting is just TOO DAMN HARD, I wasn't meant to quit, I'm not strong enough. It's time to look the monster in the eye. It's time to confront the voice. There are non-scary answers to the things it's telling you. 1. Fear of failure: Yes, I've been down this road before, but I didn't understand that I'm an addict, and that for the addict; one puff is the same as a million. I will never be able to take another puff without recommitting to a life of dependency. I've learned this the hard way in the past, even though I might not have understood the lesson at the time. Now that I know, I know that I won't take that puff. 2. Fear of success: Millions of people have moved from smoking to a life without smoking. Some have had more difficult situations to deal with than I have. All have discovered that the nicotine fix doesn't really help; it just masks. I belong to a group of hundreds of people who have traveled this road, and the fact that they're making it through family tragedy, poor health, good health, work stress, celebrations, raising kids, divorces, day-to-day life of all sorts, good times and bad times, without nicotine tells me that I can too. I'm an individual, and as such, I'm not 100% like anybody else, but I share little bits in common with many of these people, and from these similarities comes my understanding that I too can live my life in the absence of nicotine. 3. You want a cigarette: Do I? What do I want? Specifically? What about the cigarette do I crave? Okay, fine. Maybe I want the "ahhh" feeling. But, wait, I'm through withdrawal. The first cigarette won't even give me the "ahhh" feeling anymore, because the "ahhh" feeling came from nicotine's ability to stave off the early withdrawal I felt after not smoking for 30 minutes or an hour. Now that I'm no longer in withdrawal, I'll only get dizzy and sickly from the first one, and that first one will be followed by the next one and the next one as I search for the "ahhh" feeling, and long before I ever get the "ahh" feeling, I'll realize I'm hooked again. Heck, I'll realize it after the first one. 4. You can handle just one: Can I? Why is it that in the past when I said that to myself, it didn't work out like I planned? If I could get by on just one, why didn't I smoke just one every now and again when I smoked, instead of smoking all of those other ones I didn't want? No. There is no such thing as just one for me, or the other greater than 90% of the smokers out there who smoke whenever their addiction demands that they smoke. 5. You NEED just this one: Do I really believe that I NEED to inhale hundreds of toxic chemicals into my lungs to get through this given situation? Do I really believe that I need to recommit to my addiction so that I can dull the feelings associated with this situation. 6. This crave is going to last forever, this crave is unbearable, quitting is just TOO DAMN HARD: Okay, what does this crave really feel like? How long is it lasting? Is it really lasting all day long? Or, is my fear of the crave, and my fear of failure, or my fear of success, making me THINK about it all day long? For how many seconds have I actually WANTED to put a cigarette in my mouth, light it and inhale, as opposed to just being anxious about my lifestyle change, and all of the things associated with it. Am I feeling anxiety? Or am I really wanting a cigarette? Will smoking a cigarette make me feel better or worse than I do? Furthermore, I KNOW from talking to all the former smokers around me that this isn't what being an ex-smoker feels like! I'm in the latter stages of withdrawal, and the early stages of reconditioning my life to NOT revolve around my addiction. Soon, I will be feeling a lot better, and I'll have a hard time remembering how hard this has been. It's only hard for a while. 7. You weren't meant to quit, You're not strong enough: I wasn't meant to SMOKE. Smoking is not a natural thing. Ingesting deadly chemicals to satisfy a never-ending cycle of withdrawal and replenishing of nicotine supplies is NOT the way I was meant to live. I was MEANT to breathe freely. I was meant to taste my food. I was meant to have good breath. I was meant to be free. And I'm strong enough to realize that nicotine is stronger than me; that if I try just one, nicotine will win, and I'll be trapped. I'm strong enough to make it through this temporary difficulty, in order to live the life I was meant to live on the other side. Confront the fear, and confront the voice. Our junky side doesn't fight fair, and uses confusing logic. It plays upon the parts of us that feel most vulnerable. The parts of us that want to hide and wish things away. You can eliminate the fear, and silence the voice by always looking it in the eye, seeing it for what it is, and never letting it get away without shedding the light of truth upon it. Keep taking it one day at a time. One minute at a time if you need.... You'll get there. This is eminantly doable. From <http://purplkoala.coolpage.biz/library/transition.html>

Not one puff or nicotine patch ever!

Thank you @DenaliBlues OUR LIE: If I quit, I'll just start back again. I always do. THE TRUTH: The truth is that you do not have to relapse. We relapse because we rewrite the Law of Addiction, we forget why we quit, or we invent lies and stupid excuses, such as those that fill this page. Your next quit can be your last but you need to learn how to care for your recovery, while always applying the only rule that you'll ever need to obey - to NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

Hi @Breath-of-Power... find a stratagey that works for you and just go for it. You know you want to quit more than you want to smoke or you would not be coming to this site.

Give Peace A Chance John Lennon Yoko Ono

Not one puff or nicotine patch ever!

Hi @Breath-of-Power.... I hear you and can't walk in your skin. I know how difficult it is to live with a smoking partner. BUT... this quit belongs to US and not any significant other or twin brother :):) I had to stop using my partner as an excuse to smoke. How are you doing?

Head Over Heels: Tears For Fears

@jillar .... thanks so much for re-sharing your personal story. Very powerful. I hope your daughter is on the mend and has found freedom from her addiction. Yes @DenaliBlues .... I also believe that I have scorched my brain chemistry by force feeding it nicotine for so many years. I have been experiencing that deeply disorienting feeling from time to time. Need to let the healing process take the time that is needed to re-wire those pathways to allow normal pain-pleasure gratification in the brain to work again. Many thanks to both of you for putting things in perspective.

Good morning @Breath-of-Power.... One bug a boo I have is that I sometimes overthink things. And the quitting process is much like that. You will hear and read lots of sage advice about how to quit and how do deal with the challenges of the quitting processs. You have to start somewhere and the best approach is to pick a date, stop and then then take it one minute, one hour, one morning and one day at a time. Put smoking in your rear view mirror a bit at a time and continue to read and post here. And take what you need from all the advice you hear and read, and leave the rest. But don't let various perpesptives that dont work for you offer an excuse for you to keep smoking. That is still junkie thinking. Remember that your addicted brain will always find reasons to keep smoking. Thats junkie thinking. You can do this @Breath-of-Power Kind Regards, Gene

Not one puff or Nicotone Patch ever!

Thank you @QuittingGirl.... Hugs