Soberjulie

Your brain is taking those few comments and magnifying them to lure you into smoking. Don’t give people’s words that kind of power.

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I’m so sorry to hear that life has handed you some bad times too. xoxo

It passed. I definately won’t smoke. Not sure when I’ll go home....but I definitely won’t smoke. Truth: I can’t imagine being chained to those godforsaken things again!

Awww Bandit. You rock. You all do.

Thanks folks. Gahhhhh! i DO like my self-preservation trick of driving to the country and sitting in my car...... The eff-its are passing. I’m usually pretty good at keeping myself together, but today just felt like WAY too much. Gave that dastardly hubby an ultimatum: call the Dr, address this mental health issue....or I’m making plans to live elsewhere until you do. I won’t be held hostage by someone’s refusal to deal with their illness.

It was 5yrs in January.... this is the closest I’ve come to smoking in years. I’m sitting at the side of a dirt road....drove myself to the country where there aren’t any cigarettes and it would take some time/effort/awareness to get some. I have a serious case of ‘the **** its’ My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 esophageal cancer in December. My dad is struggling with early stage dementia. My husband was diagnosed with an adult Autoimmune type 1 diabetes last year.....and it appears (no, that’s not accurate...he HAS) undiagnosed mental illness. Depression? Anxiety? Bipolar? Who knows...it mostly masks as angry-asshole, so he’s really no support while I try to support my sweet momma. I KNOW smoking won’t make anything better. I just don’t care. Probably the most dangerous of all feelings for a quit-smoker: apathy. My Well has run dry and I just don’t care.

I don’t post often, but I’m checking in today. Who is it that says “Don’t put things in your mouth and light them on fire”?

Bakon, I seriously think of you often! Your attitude is one I’m working hard to cultivate. I called one of my grown kids a window-licker the other day. They weren’t amused. I was ??? Your brother is taking me to Jamaica in 3 weeks. He bought earplugs and claimed they were for the plane. I don’t buy it.

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4 years smoke free. I would have forgotten....but my Facebook timeline reminded me. I would have forgotten because a long time ago I quit thinking “I’m quitting smoking” and simply transitioned into a non-smoker. My new grandson was my motivation; I didn’t want to be ‘stinky grandma’. When my motivation would feel shaky, so many folks here provided me with reminders. I will be eternally grateful

Happy Anniversary you lovely soul! You were such a kind and gentle inspiration to me on these boards! Big hugs to you!!

Doreen, would you believe it? I have TWO little men now. Mav was three in Jan (just ahead of my quit date) and Daxton will be one next month

Hiya all you sweet smelling non-smokers! Checking in!

That was my initial motivation to quit! I had just been given a beautiful new grandbaby...... and I had a fleeting thought that if I didn't quit, I would come to be known as "the stinky grandma"

See? LMAO!!

I wish I remembered how to post pics or gif's. I'd post one like the one above me!

I'm having a chuckle... I'm remembering the creation of this board after some of us imploded on that other board. I'm remembering how angry I was. I mean, REALLY ANGRY. I now know that I was never really angry at MQ (geez, I aimed a lot his way) or Greenlover who just fed it to me straight, and not on a silver spoon either. There were various trolls that made great targets for my anger. There were 'sides'. Remember taking sides in fights that I no longer remember the significance of?? Remember when Tiffany got a goat?!?! How awesome was that? I remember how calm Colleen always seemed to be....I really admired that. I still do. I envy calm. I don't do calm very well. Nancy and Doreen were my momma figures, always encouraging and being gentle and kind and loving. And Bacon! Oh gosh....the best distraction from my anger ever. Always with the non-PC humour, exactly the kind I like. Remember Comrade Simba? He was angry like me! My brother-in-arms! And his serene wife.....Aine? I remember thinking she was the kinda gal I'd want to teach me yoga! And Sarg.....oh Sarg....with his embrace the suck bullshit that turned out to not be bullshit. In fact, embrace the suck has worked wonders in many areas of my life....and I've passed it on to my kid in college who uses that philosophy too. JellyBean and Stuart and young hat guy.... So many people. So many laughs. Thanks all.

Eggs Benedict

Hmmmm. Great post MQ I thought a lot about protecting my quit early on. When I was watching days turn into weeks.....then into months...arriving at that 1yr mark...and even beyond. Every so often, I'd have a fleeting thought "I'd like a cigarette". It happens occasionally with booze too...the fleeting thought that "I want a cosmopolitan or a martini". I tend to look at those thoughts as an observer. More importantly, I look at those thoughts with truth. I might think I want a martini....but I've never drank one of anything in my life. Same goes for cigarettes...... When I observe those random thoughts, I remember that I have them because I'm an addict. My mom doesn't have random thoughts about smoking because she's never been addicted to nicotine. I haven't thought about protecting my quit in a long time. But complacency is not good either. I think...just like with my alcoholism and (other) drug addictions, the best insurance policy is to pass along my experiences to others.

Podcasts!! I'm a new junkie, and I indulge my ears every chance I get. Any of y'all listen to podcasts? Which ones?

With all due respect, you don't need to believe my personal experience for it to be true. And the bottom line, as I see it: It's counterproductive to advise someone to continue smoking....on a QUIT SMOKING support forum. There are many things to say, but 'continue smoking' shouldn't be one of them. Not here.

Tracey, congrats!! I remember you...from early in my quit. You had a couple of months on me, and it seemed like an eternity. Now here we are, NON-SMOKERS. Biggest congrats to you!

Speaking from first hand experience: I did not want to stop drinking. I did not want to stop snorting cocaine. I did not want to quit smoking. What I wanted was to do all these things without impunity. No repercussions. No consequences. I was WILLING to quit. I did not want to. In my experience, when I make choices based on feelings (or lack of certain feelings) rather than facts.....then I am often (almost always) choosing wrong. Laundry vs quitting smoking? When it comes to want to vs willingness...it's the same thing. Exact same thing.