sgt.barney

EZPZ

You are making it harder than it needs to be. Quit once. Quitting twice is redundant ... and twice the effort. What matters is the folks who end up hopelessly addicted to Vape (or Patch (Or <whatever>)) ... just like they were addicted to smokes. Trading one addiction for another is not a positive gain. It's a lateral move. Ending up in the same spot. Thinking you've made progress when you went nowhere. EZPZ

Sarge always wonders: "Why quit twice ?" First you quit the smokes ... then you quit <whatever> (vape, patch, pills, lozenges, <whatever>) ? Just quit once and be done with it. It's TheWayToGo. For. Sure. EZPZ

> Trying 2quit again bad timIng There is no "bad timing" ... or rather, the junkie-addicted mind will always tend towards a "it was just bad timing" rationalization. Too much going on. This. That. The Other. Obligations. Stressors. Situational pressures and anxieties ... But that is the addiction rationalizing impending failure. In reality, any time - AT ALL TIMES - it is a GoodTime to quit. Also this: The only way to quit is to actually quit. Stop "trying" - it is another addicted mind delusion. "well ... I tried ..." Not good enough. Stop trying to quit and ... y'know ... actually quit. It makes a world of difference. > What does everyone do when they get a craving ? Distract yourself, eat, mints,etc ? The Sarge laced up his running shoes and ran a mile as fast as he could. Guaranteed crave killer. For hours. EZPZ

Dishonesty is the #1 impediment to success in quitting. Every one of those Junkie Thoughts is dishonest. Most rising to the level of Outright Lies. First and foremost under the Dishonesty Banner for most folks? Denial. We all know the facts here. We knew them all along. We chose willful Denial. ** Sarge is wagering that she never successfully quit. EZPZ

Sarge runs a Market Garden / CSA ... but does very little in the way of grains - about 100 lb each of Hard Red Winter and Soft White Spring Wheat. Never grew Barley Absolutely nothin' in the way of animal feed / fodder ... unless you count the Sweet Corn plots that feed what must be 3,000 Bandit 'Coons every summer. But to answer the question you might consider The Sarge to be a very small-scale (under 2 acres) Mr. Green Jeans. EZPZ

Batman? Superman? PFFFFT ... nope. It's, hands-down, no-questions-asked SHIRTLESS GIRL !!! EZPZ!

The Sarge ain't buyin' any "vow" brought to you by Philip Morris < Article here > EZPZ (He does, however suspect that they will heavily transition into The Wacky Weed when it is legal nation wide)

Additional Data Point: While you can never reverse the damage of periodontal disease, it can be halted in its tracks. One day, unexpected and out of the blue, the nice hygeinist lady asked "Has anyone talked with you about ... <erie pause> ... Periodontal Disease ... Mr. The Sarge ?" ... "Uhhhhh ... nope ..." Progressed for 3 years. Had to have the ol' under-the-gumline root planing / deep scraping. Twice. Next up: Surgery. They basically cut the gums away from the jawbone, roll 'em outa the way, and go to town on the teeth roots. Yikes! Fast forward 2 years: Quit smoking. Active Gum Disease all but disappeared. Gums returned to pink, and plump, and healthy. No sign of active disease for the past 5 years. There's still the bone loss and receeded gums ... but it's stable. No change in half a decade. They even quit measuring and reading out the numbers (Sarge wasn't quite as bad - highest of 5 (2,2,4,3,5,4,5 3.3....) ) at every appointment because they were no longer changing progressing. Two changes were made: (1) Flossing twice daily - whether needed or not (previously Sarge only flossed when a hunk o' something was stuck up in there) ... and (2) quitting the cancer-sticks. Dentist could neither confirm nor deny which had a larger benefit, but the two together cinched the deal. Quit smoking, folks. Your future teeth will thank you. Sarge had perfectly sound, healthy, good teeth that would have fallen out of his head by now due to bone loss from the gum disease. Now? Problem solved. Complete remission. No sign of active disease. Sarge is certain he'd be in dentures by now if he hadn't quit. EZPZ PS: Your heart and arteries will love you, too. There's a funky correlation between gum disease and heart disease.

> > Will I still be me? > Plot Twist: You were never really you under the influence of the addiction. Once you come out on the other side, you will now and forever be free to be you. EZPZ

Sarge has but one bit of advice: Stop trying to quit and ... y'know ... actually quit. As long as you have in your mind that you are only trying, that is all you will do. Try ... and fail. After all - you tried, right? It's OK. You'll try agin ... and fail ... Again. And again and again and again. Sarge is sure you know what he's talking about here. Now do this: Stop trying, and just quit. Done deal. Now you are a non-smoker. EZPZ You don't need it. You only think you do. You would be wrong about that. EZPZ

If a pledge were worth a shit, no one on this forum (or any other) taking said pledge would smoke. The evidence is in. Decades worth. Sarge reiterates: A pledge is bullshit, and to think otherwise is folly. There is one-and-only one thing that matters and we all know what it is. Neither The Sarge, nor The Addiction give a rat's ass who is offended. EZPZ

You needn't listen to the poppycock about "tak[ing] the Nope pledge". It is unnecessary. Sarge has never pledged, here nor The Other Place ... Neither in The Pledge Post, nor any other A "pledge" is bullsh|t. Hundreds here. Thousands elsewhere. Millions everywhere, each and every year participate in some sort of pledge or promise... And yet they still smoke. A pledge is neither necessary, nor sufficient ... and for most it is a lie. The only thing that matters is to ACTUALLY PRACTICE Nope. Practicing Nope is both necessary, and sufficient. ALL successful quitters live the Nope. Anyone can write/say some words and pledge the Nope. Successful Quitters live the Nope. EZPZ

Ain't nuthin' stoppin' ya. EZPZ

Vaping is dumbassery. EZPZ

Absolutely nothing. There is an end, folks, it does go away. EZPZ

Thousand of dollars a year on smokes ... and yet there is no extra money by quitting. It's all spent on travel to the world's premier climbing locations ... and climbing gear. A much healthier hobby. Suprisingly: considerably safer, too. EZPZ

Stop deciding to try. Instead, decide to quit. It makes ALL the difference. EZPZ

Hmmmmm ... EZPZ

The Sarge says again, with emphasis: It's not at all a problem if you don't want it to be. You have a choice here. EZPZ

Mrs. Sarge smoked for close to 3 years after The Sarge quit. (She's been quit 4 years now) At all times there were packs of smokes laying around, ashtrays all over the house, cartons in the cabinet/pantry ... How do you deal with it? You don't. There is nothing to "deal with". You are quit and your spouse is not. No. Big. Deal. You just carry on with your plan. It was never a problem for The Sarges. It won't be a problem for you if you don't want it to be. If you are hedging for excuses, this it the perfect excuse. Don't. Do. That. It's not at all a problem if you don't want it to be. EZPZ

The First Step is to quit lying. Nothing but 100%, brutal, in-your-face honesty can support a successful quit. Anything less is guaranteed failure. Guaranteed. Failure. Case In Point: (1) It was NOT "suddenly" ... at least no more "sudden" than any other cigarette you've ever smoked in your life. (2) There was FULL, conscious and willing "realiz[ation]" on your part of what you were doing. Before. During. After. (3) Your husband shares ZERO contributory blame. None. Diddley-Squat-F*ck-All. The Second Step is to internalize this: No one can help you but you. It is 100% your doing (and un-doing, as the case may be. ) We can't do it for you. No one can. We can't even help you - for you will do what you're gonna do regardless of any so-called "help" you get here (or anywhere else). *** These two steps are ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED ... or you will fail yet again. The Sarge suggests you start there, with those two highlighted points up there. EZPZ

Nobody can help you but you. When you want to quit, you will quit. When you don't want to quit, you will continue to fart around. Only you can choose one way or the other. Don't look to us. We can't do it for you. ezpz

O rly? ezpz

The slightest hint of Dishonesty and The Sarge automatically assigns them a big fat "NO GO" at this station. Move along, you're wasting everyone's time. Seeing who's obviously gonna fail is not too difficult. Seeing who will make it is not quite as easy. There's a whole lot of middle ground where "maybe they'll make it ... maybe they wont" ... and The Sarge confesses: some of you have surprised him. On both sides of that grey zone. EZPZ