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Pick of the Week

A blog by jillar in General

  • Entries

    215

  • Comments

    197

  • Views

    33139

About this blog

A weekly blog featuring well written posts from members of our community. Each week I'll pick a post and add it to this blog along with the link to the whole thread for anyone wanting to read more. Hope you like it 😊

Entries in this blog

General

Removing the Fear of Relapse

Jonny5 Quit Date: 2011-12-21 Posted April 10, 2014    I'm not afraid of relapse one single bit. It ain't ever gonna happen. Some of you are. And there's one huge reason for that.... You have not closed the doors on your smoking past and evolved into a never again smoker, you have a lingering belief that smoking does give you some benefits and are abstaining through many methods.  Abstainance looks like my quit but it is fundamentally different.  There is n
General

Who's in Charge?

cpk Quit Date: 02/04/2015   Posted March 28, 2015 · IP  When you were a smoker trying to quit did you sometimes wish you could buy "just one"?   In my town a few stores used to sell single cigarettes. The singles they sold were stinky and stale and expensive, and it was like the tobacco industry was laughing in your face like "gotcha!" you will even buy a stale cigarette. What's next?, picking butts up out of the gutter?   Sure, you can bum one. But then w
General

Anxiety Antidote

cpk Quit Date: 02/04/2015   Posted May 17, 2015 · IP    It has taken me awhile to figure out that the anxiety I have been experiencing since week 6 of my quit (now in week 15) is not directly related to quitting.   Not smoking is the peaceful part of my life.   The anxiety was there before I quit. I probably used smoking to try to keep the anxiety in check. I don't recall having "anxiety attacks" when I smoked.   I have opted to use natural
General

The Guadalupe River

This post was written by a member of another forum by the name of jwg and brought over to preserve it. And although I never knew him his ability to write about his addiction and his approach to dying spoke to me. RIP jwg.....     A lazy Texas river spanning form Kerr county Texas to the San Antonio bay on the Gulf of Mexico.  If you ever need to find a place to relax enjoy the sunshine while refreshing from the hot Texas sun, nothing beats a lazy day tubing down the slow winding o
General

A tale of two husbands...which will you be?

Nancy Quit Date: 07/07/2013   Posted December 30, 2015 · IP    Doreen and I were talking, and realized our husbands are the same age, 66.  That is about the only thing they have in common.  I am going to tell you first about my husband, Dennis, and then Doreen will be along to tell you about Tony. Hopefully there are smokers who will read this who still have the opportunity to choose which husband and father they would like to be.   Dennis is a never smoker.  A
General

No Man's Land

Nancy Quit Date: 07/07/2013 Posted March 23, 2018 ·    By tahoehal  on May 13 2008    I seldom start a post, unless it is to honor someone's anniversary. But I feel compelled to share something that I seem to be sharing a lot of lately... and that is my thoughts on 'No Man's Land'. No Man's Land is a dangerous and scary place... and it is a lonely time during a quit. I call No Man's Land that period of time between about 1 month and 3 or 4 months into your quit
General

Thoughts on Triggers

Still winning Quit Date: 12th March 2014   Posted October 29, 2015    It's been a while since I did a post as I don't ever want to take away from newer quits but I see a lot of triggers going around and some jumping off's. My way of speaking (writing) is to explain my experience and hopefully people can relate, or not and that's good if they can share their experience instead. Makes it much broader.  I also have no intention of saying in one paragraph what can be said in
General

COPD and Smoking

jillar Quit Date: May 29, 2016   Posted May 28   As many of you know I was officially diagnosed with severe emphysema and COPD after I had respiratory failure in January of 2020. Most of you also know that for years I was struggling with breathing issues that I was told was asthma. In the two years leading up to my respiratory failure I went from 110 pounds on a 5'5" frame to just 79 when I was admitted into the ICU. My prognosis at that time was pretty grim, get better
General

So, let's have that chat about change of seasons

babs609 Quit Date: 07/13/2012   Posted March 5, 2015    I am so looking forward to Spring...and as much as I complain about winter and wishing I lived in a more Babs friendly climate..I love Spring Fever!  It's a feeling that those who live in milder climates don't experience.  Seeing colors come to life, the birds singing a lovely tune at 6:00 am, the sound of lawnmowers, the smell of rain and fresh cut grass.....oh , i could go on and on!!!    With this chang
General

The best things about not smoking

larklibby Quit Date: 8th March 2015   Posted April 18, 2015 · IP    For me, the best things about not smoking, becoming a non smoker, are the small things. I have never been driven by 'how bad' smoking is for your health, of course, clearly, smoking is terrible for your well being. Somehow, my brain had learned to navigate around that fact, because of the nicotine, the drug; It was dismissed - 'it won't happen to me' attitude. So finding a driving factor for my quit has
General

It's your choice

On 8/4/2015 at 10:57 AM, Tiffany said:   Read this. Line by line. Think about it. Feel it.     Picture yourself a second or two after you stub out that quit-breaking cigarette. The one that you just had to have because the craving was so strong you couldn't hold out any longer, when that voice inside you was saying.. "Go on, life sucks, you may as well smoke a cig.. y'know for your nerves.." or the other one.. "you've got this beat now.. you are in control.. you can have
General

Why is it so hard to quit smoking?

Nancy Quit Date: 07/07/2013   Posted March 25, 2016  From the American Cancer Society...   Why is it so hard to quit smoking? Mark Twain said, “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a thousand times.” Maybe you’ve tried to quit, too. Why is quitting and staying quit hard for so many people? The answer is mainly nicotine. Nicotine Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco, which is as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Over time, a person becomes phy
General

Third hand Smoke

Sazerac Quit Date: October 23, 2013, A Good Day to be Free.   Posted March 4, 2020    It's not just secondhand smoke that is dangerous. Thirdhand smoke can be, too   by Sandee LaMotte, CNN Wed March 4, 2020   You can tell the dude sitting next to you in the movie theater is a smoker or vaper; you can smell it on his clothes. But since he's not lighting up and puffing smoke your way, it's OK, right?   Not at all.   A new study
General

Mindset Really Is Everything

babs609 Quit Date: 07/13/2012     Posted August 23, 2014 · IP  There have been discussions recently about NOPE and how it doesn't resonate well with some.  I understand that feeling.  When I was fresh in my quit the first few months, I wanted to believe those that have quit before me.  I wanted their sense of peacefulness and satisfaction with life without the cigarette.  I just couldn't imagine it and the daily restlessness that was occurring made it even more difficult
General

The Dark Room

Nancy Quit Date: 07/07/2013   Posted April 7, 2014 · IP  Bonnie, I looked and it did not originate there, so here it is...   THE SMALL DARK ROOM; an analogy of a quit (Reposted from Laurap414 from The QuitNet ) Once, my existence was confined to a small, dark room. In the room was a button. When I pressed the button the room was filled with light. It was a warm, sunny light, which filled every crevice of the room with its brilliance. The light made me happy
General

The Secret

cpk Quit Date: 02/04/2015     Posted March 21, 2015    What will I do today?   There's a smorgesbord of things ... Because it's officially Spring and I don't have to think about not smoking every minute.   This is real freedom.   (The Secret) I don't have to white-knuckle it. Just apply light attention. Vigilant, but not heavy-handed.   I have earned this freedom.  But this day? ~~~ it's a gift. How many da
General

Rewarding Yourself For Not Smoking

Colleen Quit Date: 6/2/13   Posted June 16, 2015    How do you reward yourself for not smoking?  It's okay to spend some of that money you saved from not smoking.  In the very beginning of my quit, I rewarded myself quite a bit because it was important to me.  Nothing extravagant really.  When I hit a year quit, I purchased a pair of spin shoes.     Two years quit now, my how time flies.  I have a Jawbone UP and have had to send it back more than once.  They se
General

Lies

Nixter Quit Date: 6/7/15   Posted June 27, 2015    So basically what I'm figuring out is that cigarettes and nicotine are big fat liars. For all those years they kept me at their beck and call by making me afraid. I was afraid to quit because I thought I wouldn't be able to have fun without a cig. LIE. I was afraid to quit because I thought it would be too hard. LIE. I was afraid to quit because I thought every day would be like day 1. LIE. I was afraid to quit because I
General

No Matter What, Right?

Ramona Quit Date: 1/29/2017   Posted September 1, 2015    In 4 days I will celebrate my 10 month mark.  I've not had a single puff in these 10 months.  I did not sacrifice a single inhale to death sticks.  Astounding!!!   To quit smoking has been my number one, most important goal.  Nothing has come before it.  I've made it this far because I've made this quit my top priority.  If the choice is between smoking a cigarette OR:   punching myself in the
General

Restless

babs609 Quit Date: 07/13/2012   Posted February 6, 2015    That's the word I used during the acute phase of my quit.  If I called it a "craving" I felt like it had power over me......as if the only thing that will ease that craving is the very thing that caused it and nothing will ever feel normal again..I will never feel relaxed or content again.  To me..the word "craving" went parrallel with "feed the craving"   But when I changed the wording to "restless", i
General

My Story...Hope it Helps

stzr500 Quit Date: 02/24/2017   Posted March 10, 2018    Hello,         I just want to start off stating that Feb 24th was my first year smoke free. I just want to give a bit of insight on how things went and are still going. This may be a bit in length but to totally understand it has to be, sorry. I came home that night on the 24th after I said goodbye to my daughter whom was off to rehab for her own addiction. I said if she can do it so can I even after 30 years
General

Take Your Freedom Back! Quit Smoking & Stay Quit

In honor of Quit Train's anniversary the first post written by our founder MarylandQuitter......   MarylandQuitter Administrators Quit Date: 10/07/2013   Posted March 28, 2014    Remove the desire to smoke and you will never smoke again.  Practice on removing the desire to smoke until you firmly believe that you get nothing from it.  Until then, use your smoking addiction to help you quit smoking.  That’s right, you read correctly.  You, me and millions mo
General

Filling the Pages...repost from Eric

Nancy Posted August 22, 2018 · IP    FILLING THE PAGES by Eric A common topic a quitter might talk about since they quit smoking, is the fact that there seems to be void in their life now. Now that they're not smoking it feels as if the days have grown longer and they are unsure of how to fill this time. Sometimes this can actually put stress the new quitter, because this is so unfamiliar to them. Cigarettes have been so deeply intertwined in their life for so long, that
General

The story of a mountain girl...

Ladybug Posted August 22, 2014 · IP    I am a "mountain girl" and I know a thing or two about hiking. I was born in a small village in the Alps, directly on the boarder between Italy and Austria, hiking was mandatory -not optional. There was an old joke going around about babies being born with hiking boots, skies and a backpack and I assume its still being told until this day. Not so far off the truth, I have been told I could ski before I actually walked.      Som
General

The First "No Thank You"

Rooster Quit Date: 1/1/2014   Posted January 9, 2015 · IP  Hi everyone, in preparation for a night around some smokers I wanted to write down an accomplishment from yesterday which I will be repeating as many times as necessary this evening. My first no thank you. Since I stopped smoking, I was pretty surprised at how easy it has been relative to my expectations. I had prepared for the worse, but I have realized over the last few weeks that I really hadn't been buying many an

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