Nothing to be sorry for and Joel certainly has dealt with this question many times which is why he made the videos to address it.  Imagine being around smokers in a clinical setting for 40 years and all the insight and knowledge that one would get from it.  There is nothing that any of us go through that he hasn't seen before.  He may not have experienced it, but he's very knowledgeable about it.

 

Babs runs a support group for certain people dealing with a very serious illness.  She doesn't have that illness and doesn't need to in order to help them.  Not all the time, but sometimes it takes a person not attached to the situation to tell it how it is.  

 

cpk, get comfortable being uncomfortable as this mindset will get you through any craving you could ever imagine.  :)

Yeah, yeah. More exercise... I swear, I'm ready to become an exercising fool...

 

I just want to say again I think addiction is unique. I'm not stupid. I know professionals can assist without having a condition themselves. But I will stand on my assertion that addiction is a unique situation that has not yet been fully understood, with dismal cure rates, and is now reaching epidemic proportions, and is systemic of what may be a very spiritually sick global society. Damn. I'm going out for some snow running...

Odd.  All of a sudden I just got a huge pain in my backside.  :read:

Yeah, now that you mention it, me too.

CPK, there is no need to apologize. A quit is a journey. I went through a huge mourning period where all I thought about was being a social smoker. I was bery careful not to drink too much for the first several months because of this

I never was and am not interested in being a social smoker. I am just trying to unload this monkey. I'm apologizing for perhaps jumping the gun on some stuff because I may not be thinking too clearly.

 

I don't drink, but if I did I might be having one right now. haha.

cpk I completely understand where you are coming from, at first that didn't sit right with me either.  I thought, how in the world could Joel know a, b, and c.  But the more I researched the addiction (knowledge truly is power) I found that his messages were spot on, despite him never having smoked.

 

Another thing I did, that was kind of creepy in a way, is I'd watch youtube videos of smoker's cough.  To reiterate to myself how I didn't want to end up. 

Haha, that's so morbid!

Keep up the exercise.  It helps.    

I think the relapse statistics are like self fulfilling prophesies.  (That I bought into for 20 years.)

"If no one else can quit why in the heck would I be special and be able to beat it?"

But I have seen so many quit and stay quit here, I know it can be done.

I know now that the successful ex-smoker doesn't make anyone, big pharma or big tobacco, any money.  They want us to believe it is too hard, it can't be done.  To keep on trying half heartedly, and handing over the cash just to relapse yet again.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

Yes, sites like this might be self selective.

For me, the daily NOPE pledge is brilliant. I think in the past, relapses happened because of the "just one" thing. Or two or three. I'd think I could take a little "break" -- not actually be a social smoker -- but give myself a little "holiday" from quitting full time. Taking the NOPE pledge every 24 hours is meaningful. I am also in love with the quit meter. Sometimes I check it just to see how many smokes I didn't have on a given day.

 

For me the idea that I could take a break from quitting then start up the quit again...was the biggest problem.

 

I have also found out that I'm pretty high-strung, and that may be who I am, and I think exercise is going to become my greatest friend.

This reminds me of my daughters partner.....

I was always jealous he could just smoke three or four times a year...when he was meeting with clients...

Until I found out....after each time ,he had to go on the patch programme .....

My jealousy just vanished....he was a addict..just like me....

My Ex was a social smoker, he would only ever smoke on holiday 1 week a year for the whole week BUT he was also an ex full time smoker??

 

I could never understand it, it used to drive me up the wall to think why couldn`t I be like that  :rolleyes:

 

he said he just used to do it to take on a different persona whilst on holiday and on his return he would not touch another one until the following year  :angry:

 

knowing what I know now.......

 

1) he was extremely lucky to not have to return into a full timer again

2) he must have had to go through withdraw each year

 

so now his "social smoking" baffles me even more as what a risk for 1 week a year  :blink: