JH63

@Linda I want to Congratulate you on this Great accomplishment! I know that you had some hard times over the last year, but you worked through all of them. Now here you are, a winner! Thanks for all the support you have given me over the past year. Enjoy!

I come here and read the new posts almost everyday. It helps me to not just forget about trying to quit, and it also helps me to stay quit longer at times. I'm glad this site is here.

I am Very Happy to see that you have reached 5 months Quit! Take Care!

@Lilley Thanks, If you ever figure out how to get out of your cycle please let me know. I don't know how to not think about quitting all the time. Distractions help me some, but I still have to face this even after the distraction has done it's job. The biggest stressor in my life is my inability to manage this addiction. I'm lucky in a way, I am not under much stress. I don't think that my addiction is any different than anyone else's. Mine's not worse than others here. My ability to manage my addiction is where I am different from others who have succeeded at quitting smoking. I know that I am not alone. That only leaves one thing that you mentioned, "I want the end goal but I don't want to put the work in". Sounds right for me. Take Care!

@Doreensfree I am doing alright! I come here almost everyday and read, but don't post when I'm smoking. I smoked three days when I threw my three month quit away. Then I quit again for three weeks,then lost that also. I've been quit again for just a short time. I can't see any reason to come on here and bother people about the cycle I've been in for the last year. I've been given all the information about quitting smoking that can be given in all those old treads. I read them and I am thankful to everyone on this forum for being so helpful. It's been a full year now of 10 different quits, or stoppages. It's all on me at this point and really always was! I will admit that it's as hard to walk away and give up the fight, like I tried to do, as it is to try and stay quit. It's on my mind either way. Take Care!

@Kate18 Thanks, I understand what you are saying. I'll just keep on quitting, or stopping, and maybe something will happen in the future that causes it to stick. I tried to just walk any from my last quit and forget about it. Take all that stress of staying quit off my mind. It didn't work! I just kept thinking about how I needed to not be smoking. I started another quit three days later and I'm still struggling to keep it. But that's nothing new to me. Everyday is a struggle with cigarettes, quit or not. Maybe I'll just end up having not smoked more days this year than last. Take Care!

@Doreensfree Yes, I am ready to stop smoking again! When I'm quit, all I do is think about staying quit. When I'm smoking, all I think about is quitting. I thought I could just forget about it, but I can't. I stopped seven times last year alone. I guess I'm headed for the same fate this year. @AngeleekThanks, I think I know what you are saying. Maybe not? I did not smoke for a total of 121 days last year. Even if I couldn't quit completely, I helped myself a little bit. @reciprocity Your correct, I used the wrong word. I threw it away! @bakon Yes it was nasty, reminded me of how I felt when I found out I was dating my first cousin. Take Care My Friends!

I lost my quit yesterday, Easter Sunday. I sabotaged it myself. I waited the 24 hrs. before smoking, but I didn't come here and post an SOS. I had submitted an SOS just a little ways back and I went back and read all those great responses. I guess I didn't want to be talked out of it. Again, just like all the other attempts, I never fully committed. I just didn't smoke. Without that commitment my whole quit was harder than it needed to be and ended in failure. No excuses, I made the choice to smoke! I want to thank everyone here for your support and encouragement over these past months. I have no idea where I am headed now. Without a full commitment to quit smoking on my part, it's a futile effort.

I'm sorry that you have not been able to quit again! You quit before for a long time! You said that you needed to find a reason to quit. Didn't you have reasons for quitting before? Aren't those reasons as valid now as they were before? I'll try to give you a few that might mean something to you. There are lots of other reasons to quit, but non as important as these! Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. Every day. More people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes, and alcohol, Combined. Smoking causes heart disease, emphysema, acute myeloid leukemia, and cancer of the mouth, esophagus, larynx, lung, stomach, kidney, bladder, and pancreas. Smoking also causes reduced fertility, low birth weight in newborns, and cancer of the cervix. I got this warning off of a pack on Malboro reds. I keep it close, so I can read it if I need it! Big Tobacco was ordered by a federal court to put this on their product. But it really lets Big Tobacco off the hook. It takes the liability off them and puts it squarely on the user. Just saying! I hope that you will find your reason and come back here soon! Take Care! Jeff

The struggle, at times is almost too real! If I didn't have all these health problems, I would not be putting myself through this quit process. I would still be smoking just like I have been for the past 50 years. But I have found that all those cigarettes I smoked were just a slow form of suicide. I can't go back and undo the damage I've done to myself! I look at it like this. I have two choices, I can just keep smoking and not have to struggle with quitting, or I can try to make it through this quit process and maybe live a little longer. The only thing that keeps me here, trying, is that I feel selfish. I would be leaving my wife alone to deal with things. My sister died, so I am the one who takes care of my father. That's almost a full time job. But he needs me! He worked hard and made sure that I had what I needed when I was young. I feel like I owe it to him to be around for as long as I can. I'm rambling, so I'll get off here! I hope you are having a better day today! Try to be Happy about what you are doing!

I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble right now! I understand! Last week I felt the same way. I also said that if I lost my quit I would not try again. That was a stupid thing for me to say, but at the time I said it, I meant it! I'm sure you mean it also. I am going to tell you what you told me. "You have come so far to give up now, and I can't afford to lose another quit partner." I could be wrong, but you and I are all that is left of the people who quit when we did. I have also seen a least 20 people, in the last three months, come here and say they are quitting, only to never be heard from again. I do feel bad that they couldn't stay quit! Breaking this addiction is hard work! You and I have been doing that work and we should feel better about it than we do. I don't understand why we have days like you and I are having at this point, but I have decided to hang on for awhile longer. I need to do this for my health. I don't know what your reasons for quitting are, but they are just as valid now as they were the day you quit. I hope that this gets better for you soon! You Can Do This!

Thanks Everyone! I don't think I could have stayed smoke free this long without you! I can't lie, I'm still having some problems. But I am trying to work my way through them.

I never have drank coffee, but my wife makes a pot every morning and I love the smell of it! I am retired, but my wife still works. So I am alone a lot. I mostly only have my own negativity to deal with. I would try to stay away from negative people, if you can, while you are early in your quit. At some point you will have to learn how not to get caught up in it. Negativity seems to be in all our lives from time to time. Your Doing a Great Job of Quitting Smoking!!

Welcome to the Train! You will find everything you need here to help you on your journey to being an ex-smoker. Talk to the people here! Unless the people you said you couldn't talk to are ex-smokers, they really won't understand anyway. It's not their fault, they just haven't been where your at. What Mee said is right. It is normal for us to feel sad because we think we have lost our best friend. Congratulations on the nine days quit! That's Great!

@Boo You are correct! I should not have used the word fate. I used it as an excuse. I don't buy into that way of thinking about most things, so I shouldn't have used it here either. I'll try to think of a better word, or better way of saying it. Thanks!