Hello from Colorado

[Penguin]

Hello, all. I'm Penguin, 39, and currently living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I was a smoker from my 21st birthday until 19 October 2023, for a grand total of 17 years. After trying to quit several times in those years, God saw fit to thump me with His velvet-coated two-by-four, and I learned what "spontaneous pulmonary pneumothorax" means. Somehow, air had gotten into the space around my right lung, and my lung collapsed. After four days in the hospital, I was able to go home, but I knew then I'd hit a decision point in my life. If I kept smoking, I would never quit again. It was time. After I got home from the hospital, the first thing I did was to put all of my smoking paraphernalia in a trash bag. I spent the better part of an hour crushing cigarettes, snapping pipes, mangling cigars, and breaking lighters.

 

I haven't had what I would consider cravings since I quit, but I have thought, "I could smoke a cigarette." At the same time, I've been in that situation before, and I know how slippery that slope is. In my case, I can't ever have another puff, nor can I be around it. Whenever I smell tobacco smoke or a vape, my brain goes into a kind of panic, where the only thing I can focus on is getting away from it. While I recognize the symptoms of post-traumatic stress, I'm not terribly interested in resolving this particular issue, because it has been quite useful.

 

I'm here because I'd like to encourage others where I can, but I'm also working on a little pet project: legislation to restrict smoking to specific areas in my city. I'm hoping there are those here who may be able to offer insights into that.

[jillar]

Welcome aboard @Penguin, congratulations on your awesome quit, and thanks for wanting to support others choosing to take their life back

I'm in California and our smoking laws are probably the strictest in America. There's no smoking literally everywhere including parks and open spaces, pretty much anywhere people congregate. I'd start with a petition. You can also write your representative, id start at the county level, and share your concerns. 

Good luck and keep us posted

[Penguin]

Thank you, @jillar. Out here in Colorado Springs, people can smoke on the sidewalks, and pretty much anywhere that isn't indoors or right in front of a business doorway. Even then, people smoke in prohibited zones outdoors and very rarely face any consequences. My idea is to present legislation that prohibits smoking on public thoroughfares. You can smoke, but you have to do it away from areas you share with non-smokers. That would mean no smoking in front of a bar next to the sidewalk; you have to go out back, on the side of the building farthest from the sidewalk. I still haven't figured out exactly how to word things, and I'm sure there's complications and implications I haven't considered. Normally I'm an advocate for "you do you," but in this case, people smoking doesn't just affect them. When your habit puts my health in danger, I take that personally.

 

I look forward to my time here, and to the continued success of those who choose to live.

Edited November 26, 2024 by Penguin
Typo: "I still have figured out..." to "I still haven't figured out..."

[Cbdave]

Gday

Chris  from Brisbane Australia. Goggle smoking laws for Brisbane. You basically can’t smoke in the city of Brisbane any more. The result for me is that I don’t see anyone smoking anymore. Cig butts stand out now cause I hardly see them anymore. Yes I see vapes now I never seen before but never anyone using one. Though I see the funny clouds of steam coming out of car windows. 
 

[QuittingGirl]

Hi @Penguin Welcome aboard the Quit Train!! So glad you found us and congratulations on your 13 month quit journey!  That is awesome!!  You came to the right place to look for and offer support to others.  We are a really great group and I hope you stick around!  Check out all the information Quit Train has to offer.  There are people on this forum who have been quit a decade or more and some newbies and everything in between.  So just take a seat, first class, of course, and enjoy the ride!! 

[garry mhudson]

Welcome aboard!  Your story is similar to mine. Took a 8-9 stay in the hospital to cure me. I remember getting home afterwards and taking 2 full packs of cigs and a partial pack and tearing them up and throwing them away, That`s over 8 years ago and I`m still NOPING! Good luck and best wishes with the quit. You seem to have this. Stick around.

 

[Doreensfree]

Welcome aboard 

Congratulations on your fabulous Quit 

and I’m sorry you have been through a tough illness . 
Thank your for taking your seat , to help others find their own quit .

Here in the UK , folks can still smoke outside away from others , 

I feel we still have a long way to go .

 

[Reciprocity]

Welcome to Quit Train @Penguin!

 

I've been quit for a few years now and early on in my quit the smell of someone smoking was aluring to me. Made me want to light one up but now ... I find the smell really offputting; disgusting actually so I suppose your reaction to people smoking may change as time goes on as well?

 

Where I live, smoking is very restricted. Basically you can't smoke anywhere other than outdoors as long as you're not on property owned by organizations that ban smoking on their property. No smoking at sports fields or outdoor playgrounds etc. All this legislated by municipalities & eventually by the Provincial Government. 

How you get there is the question I suppose. Government legislation usually comes from public pressure at both the local & State/Provincial levels. Petitions, using social medial and lobbying whatever politicians you can makes a difference. Encouraging others to join you is key!

 

Good wishes to you in continuing the fight!!

[intoxicated yoda]

@Penguin good luck with your endeavor.  i do understand where you are coming from and don't really disagree with you, however, the 2 things you cannot legislate without giving power to tyrants is intelligence and morality.  In this case, context is everything so be careful for what you wish.

[Penguin]

1 hour ago, intoxicated yoda said:

@Penguin good luck with your endeavor.  i do understand where you are coming from and don't really disagree with you, however, the 2 things you cannot legislate without giving power to tyrants is intelligence and morality.  In this case, context is everything so be careful for what you wish.

 

You're not wrong. I would much prefer to live in a world where people realized their behavior was negatively impacting those around them and adjusted accordingly, but that rarely happens. I think I may try an awareness campaign first, and see how that works. It might increase support if and when it comes down to actual legislation mandating where people can smoke. Normally I'm a big fan of the greatest amount of freedom for the greatest number of people, and in this case it's a matter of the proper boundary. Smokers have a right to do to themselves as they please, but they don't have the right to negatively impact the health of non-smokers.

[Genecanuck]

[despair not]

Welcome Penguin

Congrats on your quit and for finding chicks v sticks game.

[Mac#23]

Welcome aboard Penguin, there is no better site for knowledge and support for people who want to kick the habit. Congratulations on your quit so far. We are always willing to welcome and support new members. Grab a seat on the train and enjoy the ride towards your forever quit.

[Penguin]

I'm dropping in to say hello, and that I haven't given up on QT or my own quit. My quit is still going strong, though I concede it crossed my mind tonight to smoke in order to deal with frustrations I'm having. A couple things kept me from making that mistake:

1. I like myself more now than I did when I smoked, and though I'm far from perfect, I like who I am becoming.

2. The people who are frustrating me aren't worth my dignity. I'm not going to throw away nearly 15 months of progress (not to mention potentially the rest of my life) for them. Knowing myself as I do, I operate on the presumption that if I ever pick smoking back up again, I won't be able to quit again. It was hard enough the first time around, took multiple attempts over nearly two decades, and the only thing that convinced me to quit was having a traumatic medical episode. I'm just not in good enough health to survive another episode like that, so if I get hooked again, I know my stubborn butt will be hooked on butts forever, and I'm not going to let that happen if I can help it.

3. I'm too lazy to walk to the store for tobacco.

4. I remember what it felt like the first time I inhaled, and how sick I was. I know that's how it would feel if I smoked again, and I just do not want to go through any of that.

5. I remember what it was like, having to deal with the constant scrubbing and laundry and trying to cover up my stench (unsuccessfully) in order to keep my family, friends, and neighbors from complaining. My stress level may rise occasionally due to frustrations, but at least I don't have the constant stress of wrestling with all that worry and useless effort. It's also healthy for me to sit with my frustrations and cope with them as a mature adult, rather than running to drugs to deal with them for me.

 

I think I'll take myself to bed and try to get some sleep.

[Doreensfree]

Great post P

Reminding yourself of why you keep your fabulous quit keeps you going forward ..

Well done 

Coming here and writing it down shows how 

your commitment

[jillar]

Those are great reasons  @Penguin, plus your frustrations would still be there as well as the newly added one of relapsing. Not worth it. Things always get better and work themselves out so hang in there, vent here as much as needed. Sending you a hug from California.....

Edited December 29, 2024 by jillar

[DenaliBlues]

Attaway to protect your precious quit @Penguin! Smoking never made a spouse, boss or colleague less aggravating. Plus withdrawal was the pits, so why go through it all over again?! No thanks! 

 

I also love this insight:

 

4 hours ago, Penguin said:

It's also healthy for me to sit with my frustrations and cope with them as a mature adult, rather than running to drugs to deal with them for me.

 

^^^ That was and is a big part of what I had to painfully learn when quitting. It’s rough sometimes, but all smoking ever did was cork up or suspend feelings… nothing ever got resolved. But “dealing with” things as a nonsmoker means that issues can be worked through. Feelings progress and evolve… they don’t get frozen or smoke-preserved like hard jerky any more. And little by little we gain emotional freedom and strength we never even knew we were missing.

[Mac#23]

Way to go Penguin, stay the course. You deserve to be happy and smoke free. Always believe, that nothing is worth giving up your quit. You are a better and stronger person because you refuse to bend or give in. 

[Reciprocity]

Good to know you're staying the course @Penguin! No question, dealing with those nagging frustrations that befall all of us in life at times is made more difficult initially when we first quit smoking because we always relied (falsely) on having a smoke to help us cope but the truth is ... we cope much better dealing with life's frustrations without those damn smokes clouding our reality.

 

Quitting smoking won't illiminate any of life's problems but we are a lot better off dealing with them as non-smokers and that's the truth!

So carry on Penguin because every day and every problem you get through without smoking makes your quit stronger!!

[QuittingGirl]

11 hours ago, Penguin said:

I'm dropping in to say hello, and that I haven't given up on QT or my own quit. My quit is still going strong, though I concede it crossed my mind tonight to smoke in order to deal with frustrations I'm having. A couple things kept me from making that mistake:

1. I like myself more now than I did when I smoked, and though I'm far from perfect, I like who I am becoming.

2. The people who are frustrating me aren't worth my dignity. I'm not going to throw away nearly 15 months of progress (not to mention potentially the rest of my life) for them. Knowing myself as I do, I operate on the presumption that if I ever pick smoking back up again, I won't be able to quit again. It was hard enough the first time around, took multiple attempts over nearly two decades, and the only thing that convinced me to quit was having a traumatic medical episode. I'm just not in good enough health to survive another episode like that, so if I get hooked again, I know my stubborn butt will be hooked on butts forever, and I'm not going to let that happen if I can help it.

3. I'm too lazy to walk to the store for tobacco.

4. I remember what it felt like the first time I inhaled, and how sick I was. I know that's how it would feel if I smoked again, and I just do not want to go through any of that.

5. I remember what it was like, having to deal with the constant scrubbing and laundry and trying to cover up my stench (unsuccessfully) in order to keep my family, friends, and neighbors from complaining. My stress level may rise occasionally due to frustrations, but at least I don't have the constant stress of wrestling with all that worry and useless effort. It's also healthy for me to sit with my frustrations and cope with them as a mature adult, rather than running to drugs to deal with them for me.

 

I think I'll take myself to bed and try to get some sleep.

 

Hi Penguin,

 

I am so glad that you didn't give up your quit!!! I know what it's like to want to go back and/or have feelings to go back.  We all do! What's easy is NOT taking even 1 puff of a cig!!! That's easy to NOT take one!!  What's difficult is, if you take a puff, you will want more and more and then you will be addicted, and you will need to quit smoking AGAIN!!!  THAT, WILL BE SO HARD!!! Who wants to go through all those withdrawal symptoms?  Definitely NOT ME!!! 

 

You MUST stay quit for yourself, because any of those people will NOT help you!!  I know quitting is NOT easy, we ALL DO!!! My mom lives downstairs from me and she is a smoker.  I visit her a lot, and believe me, I would love to smoke one of her cigs from time to time, but I DON'T!!! I go down there and, yeah, it bothers me at times smelling the smoke, or seeing her smoking, BUT if I take a puff, nothing will change except, that I will now be addicted. That is why I don't go back to smoking, because smoking IS difficult in many many ways, (not even the obvious ones). There are so many other ways besides the obvious ones that make smoking difficult!

 

Just take in all of what we all have to say! You are doing amazing!!  Keep coming back here Penguin, every day!!! 

 

Happy New Year!!!

Edited December 29, 2024 by QuittingGirl

[Genecanuck]

On 12/29/2024 at 4:47 AM, Penguin said:

I'm dropping in to say hello, and that I haven't given up on QT or my own quit. My quit is still going strong, though I concede it crossed my mind tonight to smoke in order to deal with frustrations I'm having. A couple things kept me from making that mistake:

1. I like myself more now than I did when I smoked, and though I'm far from perfect, I like who I am becoming.

2. The people who are frustrating me aren't worth my dignity. I'm not going to throw away nearly 15 months of progress (not to mention potentially the rest of my life) for them. Knowing myself as I do, I operate on the presumption that if I ever pick smoking back up again, I won't be able to quit again. It was hard enough the first time around, took multiple attempts over nearly two decades, and the only thing that convinced me to quit was having a traumatic medical episode. I'm just not in good enough health to survive another episode like that, so if I get hooked again, I know my stubborn butt will be hooked on butts forever, and I'm not going to let that happen if I can help it.

3. I'm too lazy to walk to the store for tobacco.

4. I remember what it felt like the first time I inhaled, and how sick I was. I know that's how it would feel if I smoked again, and I just do not want to go through any of that.

5. I remember what it was like, having to deal with the constant scrubbing and laundry and trying to cover up my stench (unsuccessfully) in order to keep my family, friends, and neighbors from complaining. My stress level may rise occasionally due to frustrations, but at least I don't have the constant stress of wrestling with all that worry and useless effort. It's also healthy for me to sit with my frustrations and cope with them as a mature adult, rather than running to drugs to deal with them for me.

 

I think I'll take myself to bed and try to get some sleep.

You've got this @Penguin ..... good for you for deciding to keep your quit in the midst of some challeging times. You are an inspiration.