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You did it...you thought about quitting signed in...and .....nothing.... You want to quit...otherwise you wouldn't have been here..... We have some fine newbies just now..who are doing great...why don't you pop by....and give quitting another go... It's actually easier than you think... Read the main discussion board today....one of the posts is all about fear...fear to quit.... There is NOTHING to fear....and so much to gain.....

NOPE

Nope

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Gday NOPE for today C

NOPE!

Nope

Nope!

NOPE!

Nope!

Nope not today

NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello you beautiful smoke free creatures NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

I was going to post at the end of Day 1 but I'm too excited. I've been quit for 34 whole minutes ???? How spooky that Reci answered my "panic post" literally one minute before my quit started ?? So yes the timeline was right. My hands are warm and my feet are like two oven baked potatoes. Oooh 40 minutes now ?? OK I promise not to count down the entire 24 hours!! So far so good ?

Those of you that know me from QSMB know that I was a secret smoker. Closet smoker. Naïve smoker. Pick a label any label. I lived in constant fear. Constant worry. Fear of being outed. So much worry. Which cracks me up now because smokers stink no matter what is done to mask it. Pretty sure my smoking was the pink elephant in the room no one talked about. Yay! I had an ongoing checklist. Do I have air freshener in my car, face wipes, baby powder? Mints, gum, mouthwash?. Do I have time to drive around the block again and keep smoking? Never ending cycle of worry. Before leaving for a night out- do I have enough cigs? Better get another pack. I never bought cigs by the carton. Only real smokers bought cigarettes by the carton. Right? Hahahahaha! Oh my. When out in public; the worry of being spotted was ever present. Go outside around the building, downwind, hide behind that tree. Constant worry. When home – did I empty and hide the ashtrays? Did I sweep away the ashes in case we have a drop in visitor? Can my neighbor see or smell the smoke? Are the bugs out yet? In the South, we have some bugs. Your home can be as clean as an OR and you’ll still have some bugs inside. Outside…game on. Gigantic mutant roaches that fly. Mosquitoes that steal gallons of your blood from one bite. Hurricane Michael is knocking on the shores of my home State. I checked with family-everyone has everything. He’ll barrel through some more of the SE. We have prepared and have what we need. Gas tank is full in both cars. We have batteries. We have containers of water in the freezer. Pantry is stocked. All devices are perched on chargers until the power goes. And, it will go. Matches for candles and grills. The cigarettes are at the store. I don’t have any. I am not worried about that.

Nope

@johnny5 Ugh. What a beast! My family is ok; trees down in yard ; one fell on my mom’s house but did not break thr/ roof thank heavens. They are trapped in their neighborhoods due to downed power lines & trees. My friends on the coast evacuated but will come back to devastation- Mexico Beach, Port St Joe got pummeled. Winds & rain picking up in my neck of the woods now. We grilled a steak, baked a potato, poured some wine...enjoying the AC. It is raining & crazy humid outside.

#NOPE

I noticed the same thing. I am praying for all in its path.

It's entirely possible that I wasn't paying attention, but did this storm escalate quickly as compared to other storms? It seems like we typically hear from sources tracking these storms for at least a few days before they make landfall. With Michael, it feels like it practically popped up overnight. To any of our friends on the Gulf Coast: Godspeed and be safe.

Nope!

NOPE!

I think we all kept smoking with the thought that nothing was going to happen to us. I smoked though breast cancer and radiation! I was scared to death I was going to die from breast cancer but not cigarettes??????? I have to say it - WTF was I thinking. I could not have quit without this forum. All the failed attempts with my doctor's help did not work because I was so ashamed and always felt the doctors looked down on me. Here I am in the comfort of those that know me and truly understand the addiction. I am now excited at the prospect of living my life without them and know that quitting can be done. I also get excited when I see new quitters show up and realize that I can help them on their journey.

Just saw the Eagles at Madison Square Garden tonight....Deacon Frey did a great job...his dad would be proud. Joe Walsh was on fire tonight!!!!!

Nope @notsmokinjo thanks so much for adressing that. Maybe taking it a step further even: mental health issues may be 'useful' in quitting, knowing what it is to be in the dark and how to stay strong when the world seems so alien, knowing when reaching out is crucial.

NOPE - I don't smoke anymore.

Nope just for today

Nope!

Good morning fellow NOPErs... today is another mixed bag of shout outs... some worthy and some not so... todays honorable mentions got to Take Your Teddy To Work/School Day... why? because why bloody not, you all still have at least one, go on admit it... then there is Hug A Drummer Day, just a tip.. do it before the gig cos drummers sweat way more than the rest of the band..... then especially for our Wees, that's right @Wee fluffy me & @WeegieWoman its World Porridge Day... guess what I had for breaky?? with some stewed apples and cinnamon cos I was feelin a bit posh.... and while all three of those were worthy contenders today's spotlight shall be shone on World Mental Health Day.... Mental health problems, ranging from issues like depression and anxiety disorders to conditions like schizophrenia, affect millions of people around the world. In fact, according to current statistics, 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem during their lifetime and many more will see friends of family members affected... so lets look at depression and anxiety... they are pretty common among smokers... especially anxiety... and did you know most smokers who have anxiety think that smoking helps control it .... sorry to burst your nicotine deception bubble but anxiety is not helped by smoking... it is actually made worse by smoking... nicotine receptors use anxiety to control you to feed the addiction, you are going to be more anxious as a smoke than as a non-smoker... yeah the early stages of a quit can see an increase in your anxiety because your mind is crying out for a hit of nicotine and well it has used anxiety and had it work in the past... but it eases up, it really truly does. Another tip for those thinking of quitting... if you do take medication for your mental health, pop in and see you doctor before you quit... the changes to you body when you quit may mean your dosage might need a tweak. Giving up smoking didn't cure my anxiety but they did improve it... much better now than it used to be. So give it a thought, mental health issues are not a reason to prevent you from having a successful quit. NOPE ... not worth the angst.

NOPE!

NOPE...

NOPE!!!!!!!!!

I'm laughing at the starter kit because that's not far off what mine looks like ?? Thanks for cheering me on. It is so nice to have such great support. I think the excitement has worn me out a bit so I'm going to go to bed ? One and a half hours already so by the time I get up I should be at least 10 hours in ? Night all.

NOPE!

NOPE, never again.

Awesome, you got your starter kit ready?

NOPE!!!!!!!!!

#NOPE

Are you afraid to QUIT? ... I was. Are you scared that you will fail or fail again? ... Yep, me too. Is your fear that it will be too hard? .... kinda Is your fear you just can't do it? ... that too Is your fear quitting will make you sick? ... yep Is your fear quitting will hasten you death? ... Absolutely petrified this would be the case and as irrational as it was it was the biggest fear I faced. You know what I learnt when I quit? ..... I learnt fear is just a tool nicotine used to control me... it was irrational and built out of proportion. I have been quit for over 10 months now and if anything I am angry with myself that I wasted so many years smoking because I was scarred for all the reasons above. Have I failed?.... not yet, and I wont, I have no intentions of failing, I feel comfortable saying this feels different than any previous quit. I'm an addict, I'll always be an addict, I'll always be one puff away from a pack a day... but I know that, I embrace that and I really don't want that one puff ever. Was it too hard??? .... Hell no, it was actually easier than I thought it would be... not saying it wasn't hard my lovelies because it was... but it was nowhere near as hard as I had let fear build it up to in my mind. I've certainly done much harder things in my life but then again I've done much easier things too... facing my fears head on and not using them as an excuse to not try has made it easier than I thought it could ever be. Could I do it??? ...... YES... I could and you can too... its simple, don't put anything in your mouth and set it on fire... after that first 24 hours, I know I could do a day without smoking, I'd done it... so I only have to last 24 hours... then when that's up I only have to last another one.... 10 months later people and here I am doing this every day... same way I'm going to be doing it for the rest of my days. So did quitting make me sick???..... NOPE.... not one bit, didn't even get bronchitis this winter and its been a long time since that was the case. So if you have been lurking you might know I have some health issues that came to light after I quit but had I not quit it would have been too late to do anything to make me better... so no, quitting did not make me sick, it is helping to cure me. Am I dead??? ......NOPE... obviously... and some of you may be scratching your heads at this one.... but for nearly a decade I was terrified to quit, I had worked the fear almost to the point of phobia, occasionally I still have nightmares that because I am not smoking I will die... Is this chick frickin' crazy? I hear you ask yourselves.... well yes, we all know that I am, but my brain and the hold I let nicotine have over it turned a failed quit attempt (that saw me end up in hospital in a coma post a PE from a DVT) into nearly a decade of 'certainty' that if I tried to quit again I would die. I mean break out in a sweat at the thought of it fear. Long story short, I used a quit method and had a bad reaction to it that caused a DVT that turned into a Pulmonary Embolism ... so 3 days in a coma, nearly 2 weeks in hospital and what was the first thing I did when I walked out the door... I lit up.... and then I convinced myself, or let my addiction convince me, that I should never try to quit again because next time I wouldn't be leaving the hospital.... BUT am I dead???? NOPE.... Will I die??... well of course I will, we all will, but what I can guarantee you 100% is that quitting will not be why I died. So what did I have to Fear???.... NOTHING, my fears were all like wisps of smoke... I blew against them and they dispersed into the ether leaving me smoke free, nicotine free.... leaving me free. And guess what, you too can face your fear. Don't let a fear that has festered and grown because of an addiction's want of control over you be the thing that stops you from quitting. Use today, International Face Your Fears Day... to do just that, face your fear and take back your life. Just over 10 months ago I did and it was the best gift I have ever given myself.

I also was a closet smoker and you give the perfect description of my life. No more! Freedom is wonderful. Praying for the safety of all who is in the path of this storm.

Stay safe folks.... When you read a post like this...it really hits home what a stupid waste of time smoking was....it's hard work being a smoker.... Most of every day worrying about doing something ,that supposed to be pleasurable.... All lies....there is no pleasure spending every moment covering up your tracks.... Great post...and a truthful post....smoking is the Pitts.....

Ah yes the secret smoking... how did we ever think they didn't know.... still shaking my head at that one. Fantastic post though Lust.... sending best wishes that you and yours stay safe with Michael.

Gday its NOPE for me C

Very good post! Oh so true! Embrace your quit! Enjoy the freedom!

Just focus on one day at a time. You know you can go 24 hours without a smoke. You have done that 3 times now.... in a row.... so just focus on the next 24 hours... 24 hours is easy that's all you have to do... just 24 hours. When that times up I bet you feel like going another 24 hours without smoking... and guess what you can do it... you have the history to prove 24 hours is nothing, you can certainly go 24 hours without a smoke. Keep going T4C... you are doing so well.

Great post Jo and it's true! The fear of quitting is often much worse than quitting itself. I think too that some of us use it as an excuse not to try and quit for fear of what it will be like yet as you point out, once we have quit, our only regret is that we didn't do it sooner! Come on people. Make the commitment and take back your life!

Wow just what I needed this morning. Such an outstanding read and it sure hits about my feelings at the beginning of my quit. I have to keep reminding myself not to over think the process and just take it moment by moment. For me day 3 is brutal. Comfort comes from knowing I have a place to come to. Reading and watching videos helps ease the pain. Did sleep better last night. Going to get up and start moving today.

This is a brilliant post, Jo. Thank you so much for your honesty and clarity. Here are some more links about fear and a couple more stories about the fears of quitting. Why Fear Inhibits Quitting Smoking & Why This Fear Is Not Based On Fact

Thanks for the write up Jo, a great reminder...absolutely on point. Thank you!