sgt.barney

>Stopping smoking stops this crippling ilness getting any worse Actually, it *can* still progress even after quitting.It will (likely) slow down progression but for most the disease continues to progress. Just much more slowly. Also - there are plenty of Never Smokers with COPD who die from the progression of the disease. Nothing at all to do with smoking or quitting, and it still progresses to termination. Grim, Sad Truth. Easy Peasy

You don't need support and you don't need confidence and you don't need to chat and there are no new situations. None of these have worked for you in the past and none will work now nor in the future. The situation is this: you are smoking and you need to stop. Easy Peasy

No preparcrastination necessary. Just. Do. It. Easy Peasy

You keep failing because you keep smoking. There is no magic. Easy Pesy

Haven't even been sick in almost 5 years. Not once. Chronic cough/bronchitis were a regular occurrance. Used to spend 6 months of the year coughing and hacking phlegm all day Not once in years. BONUS: Spring pollen allergies up and disappeared, too. Who knew? Easy Peasy

That would be The Junkie speaking to you. The Junkie is wrong. Always wrong. Very wrong. You can handle Cold Turkey as well as anyone, Nope. It is only as "horrible and painful" if you want it to be. Nope. Not if you want to be ... y'know. .. successful at it. Easy Peasy

You should .. and *can*! You're not doing yourself any favors by "cutting down". It's time to just let go, right? BTW - You don't need "other coping skills". All you need is to NOT smoke. Easy Peasy

Ohio River Valley, Cincinnati-ish (47 miles East) Mile after mile of cornfield amd soybean field. It's crazy the amount of land dedicated to those two crops, and virtually nothing else. Occasionally you see Winter Wheat, but it's mostly grown as a cover crop and not harvested for sale as food for people. Low population density - about 85 people per square mile. Rampant herds of ravenous, eat everything in sight White Tail Deer, This is a typical view in the area This is an actual view from Sarge's rooftop looking at the garage and a neighboring 90 acre bean field (about 2 weeks after harvest) a few years back while he was playing Chimney Sweep for the day cleaning out the woodstove innards. Easy Peasy

Myth: quitting is <whine> *haaaarrrd* Truth: Easy Peasy

Don't worry. Toe Jam is rarely fatal. Easy Peasy

Get rid of the gum. The herbal cigarettes. And anything else you thing is "helping" you. They're not. Helping, that is. At all. In fact, they are quite likely making it worse on you and making life more difficult than it has to be. Easy Peasy

You heard it. Sarge said : "Toe Jam[1]" Easy Peasy FOOTNOTES [1] It's a reference to new quitters [2] ascribing every ache, pain, malady, disease (mental or physical), annoyance, hassle, injury, peeve, and mood - blaming it all on quitting, rather than just everyday normal occurrances ... up to and including the aforementioned Toe Jam[3] [2] Which you are most definitely not [4] [3] "I got a lot of Toe Jam accumulating ... Is this caused by my quit?" [4] And you should know better by now.

Toe Jam. Easy Peasy

Cold Turkey is *best* Turkey. Easy Peasy

More people waste more money on cars than anything else in their lives. Enjoy! Easy Peasy

So far the evidence points to a clear "No" ... but that can change, right? Only one thing can change it. Easy Peasy.

Depression is an excuse. Your excuse. If you wanted to stay quit, you'd stay quit and have the depression dealt with medically. Sarge is a betting man and he's betting you're not doing a thing about it. Instead, you want to smoke, so ... you do. Stop that and you're quit for life. Stop that. Treat it(the depression) or die early like the rest of the smokers in your family. You won't be successful until you admit you are leaning quite heavily on a mostly treatable excuse, and not doing a thing about it ... on purpose ... so you can rationalize smoking again. Easy Peasy

LOL. Now *that's* funny. Easy Peasy

Sarge speaks truth. He really couldn't give a rat's cherry red arsehole about "tough". Will you remain in denial your entire life? You can wallow in yesterday, or you can move on to the present day. Sarge doesn't particularly care, other than to say what he's already said: yes - it works that way. It works *exactly* that way. There is no other way. Sarge isn't here to hold your hand and give you the warm fuzzies. He's here to point you in a direction that works. Easy Peasy

Actually ... it does. It works *exactly* this way. When you finally understand that is when you will be free. Until then, you will repeat the past. Over, and over, and over again. Easy Peasy

Sarge lost a total of 64 pounds (confession: he's gained 14 back) ... and as far as he's concerned the truth is: you've gotta be hungry for a while. Could never manage to lose a single pound without being hungry. Just learn to ignore it and be slightly uncomfortable for a while. Kinda like quitting. Embrace The Suck and drive on ... Easy Peasy

Watch out for those F and B (Maj) chords. Those were the hard ones way back when Sarge was learning (1984? (ish) ? ) Easy Peasy

Cold turkey is *best* turkey. Easy Peasy

Easy Peasy

O. M. F. G. Easy Peasy