Hey people! Just saying hello

[Runfree]

Why did you want to quit in the first place?

[beacon]

During my quit I would think about scenarios where I could start smoking again. Such as, I got fired, or God forbid, my parent died. Something that would be so big, so critical that of course I had to smoke to get through it.  

 

This is junkie thinking and I really had to think that NOPE ends in EVER. Not one puff ever. I was just reading on the why quit facebook page about a smoker who had quit for almost three years who smoked a few cigs and soon was right back again to smoking full time. That would be me I know if I let myself have a puff or two when I was feeling down. 

 

For you at three months quit, I know a person still feels shaky and some bad issues could convince the new quitter that smoking can help.  Really though what the quitter does not see is the actual damage that this cigarette is doing.  It is not a helper to pass the time.  Or a friend o get you thorugh a bad time. It is a death stick.  Truly. Think about whether quitting and staying quit can actually improve your mood and thus your situation.  You would be a winner, someone who had achieved a significant goal. 

 

[Ramona]

Nice post Beacon.

 

It really has to be ALL or NOTHING.  We can't create hypothetical scenarios where it would be justified to smoke.  That's not how this quit thing works.  We become non-smokers and we handle life as non-smokers.

 

That's why this forum is important to utilize as we attempt to learn life anew.  All of us are ex-smokers turned non-smokers.  Unlike never-smokers there will always be this malevolent, seductive voice telling us that nicotine will make us feel better.  Never-smokers handle sh*tty life situations but they don't have to handle that VOICE.  Maybe they eat cake or get drunk or take pain pills or exercise too much.  But for us the default is "NICOTINE."  The voice will get weaker but it has the potential to gather force and reemerge.  Constant vigilance is required. 

 

Like Beacon said: E = EVER.  What a commitment!!!!  But it's a commitment that will pay us back in so many ways.  More intimacy in our lives, better tasting food, more cash flow, more enjoyable work-outs, less depression, more time for hobbies, a bigger dating pool, and the list goes on! 

 

When you're ready, come back here...and stick around until you're strong enough to go it alone (or just stay).  Whatever you need to beat this sociopathic addiction.