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I think I may have been 9 or 10 when I smoked my first cigarette. It was with a friend of mine in the neighborhood who stole some cigarettes and a lighter from his dad and we, and a couple of other friends, each smoked a cigarette in the local neighborhood park. I felt so sick that I thought I was going to throw up. It was a truly disgusting experience. I did not smoke again (despite having smoking friends in high school) until my first weekend in college when I smoked my second cigarette. Maybe it was the freedom of being away from my parents or some belief that it made me feel part of the crowd but I slowly started smoking "socially" my first year in college. I went home that summer after my first year in college and did not smoke a single cigarette. But within a month of coming back to college my second year, I was buying packs of cigarettes and smoking on a regular basis. Never set out to become a nicotine addict but it happened. I smoked for 20 years. In the early days, I know a lot of smokers (although I had a lot of non-smoking friends who tried to discourage me from smoking) but in my last years as a smoker, I felt a lot more isolated. What was once a "social" thing became an "anti-social" thing as more smokers I knew I driefted apart from or just quit. For me, maybe what I quoted from Cbdave is accurate. In the beginninng, it felt like a social thinng but in the end, it felt like a solitary thing.

NOPE for today! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

NOPE!

HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE ON THE TRAIN!!! ALL THE BEST!!!

Congratulations @GonSo and @Rockangel You are doing a great thing for yourself and those who care for you. Keep up the awesome work!

N.O.P.E. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Blessings to all in 2026....

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!! NOPE!!

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G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever.

Start 2026 with your best decision ever! Make it a truly Happy New Year!

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Charm

Fight the urge

I can imagine, Doreen! What a treat for yourself! Big hug for Ted.

Sips drink

Tornado

Polish silver

Husk

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@GonSo Well done , Its fabulous when the money starts mounting up … I bought my Ted when I saved up enough when I Quit He costs me £500 Money well spent

@Cbdave I don’t know how anyone can afford to smoke in Australia, they are the expensive in the world

NOPE

Love this positive reinforcement, @Rockangel! The other thing I do when I hear the siren song of temptation is to review the list of lies that our addict brains use to trick us into thinking that smoking is okay. Whoppers like, "Just one won't hurt..." or "I'm only hurting myself..." John Polito wrote a great essay about them. Excerpts here: