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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/28/18 in all areas

  1. On the eve of my 1 year quit anniversary I couldn't help be reflect on what brought me to this point. I remember 1 year ago today standing beside my car in the cold and damp, subconsciously reaching into the pocket of my coat for a cigarette. Like the thousands of others that had gone before it, I lit that smoke and took my first drag. I had just finished a coughing fit from the bronchitis I had for all of January 2017 and that first drag on the cigarette launched me into another coughing fit. Struggling to even take a breath after that, it finally dawned on me that what I was doing was completely insane!! That was the moment that literally changed my life. I knew I had to quit smoking! For whatever reason, this event had grabbed my attention. This time it was REAL. I suddenly knew I was no "special flower" who could escape the ugly fate that many years of smoking clearly had in store for me. The next morning at 8:30 AM with no real plan in mind, I had my last cigarette. The days that followed are a murky blur of what I perceived to be at the time, unwelcome feelings and sensations, as my body purged itself of the drug that had been present on a daily basis for over 4 decades. The highs and lows of that first week or so are indescribable to me now. I wish I had kept a blog of it all. I remember feeling like I wanted to crawl out of my own skin at times the anxiety was so pronounced. And the time ....... God Dammit!! Time was standing still! I was trapped in a never ending series of mental and physical withdrawals. I was unsure as to what was happening to me. I was even more unsure whether I could weather this storm I was caught up in. After a week or so of this crazy roller coaster ride, I found this place and signed up. I was welcomed, as all of you have been and was given the first glimmer of hope through the encouragement that others were extending to me. This was good! I started to read and read and read all the pinned posts and a lot of other posts. I watched numerous videos about quitting. This was the perfect distraction for me while my body and mind rebelled against the path I had chosen to take. I was on this site sometimes almost 24/7 it seemed. Sleep patterns were interrupted to say the least so here I was on the site at ungodly hours of my day and night sometimes. Everything I read from these people who had gone before me sounded the same! It was like a broken record, repeating itself over and over. Pledge your NOPE every day. Take smoking off the table. Watch out for the Nicodemon because he will attack you at your weakest moments and try to lure you back to smoking. Every battle you do with the Nicodemon, you get stronger and he gets weaker. This all sounded like some sort of cult like lingo to me. Could I take this seriously? Dare I believe them all? I read some more. I read how the people before them had been telling them the same things. I was ultimately convinced and decided that I too had to abide by the same critical rules if I had any hope of being successful. Blind faith had overcome me and I was all in! From that point onward, I read and read about every phase of my quit. What had others experienced when they were at the stage I was at? 1st month, second through 3rd and fourth months when I was in No Man's Land. What had others experienced and how did they cope? This was what became my guiding light through to the time I finally became aware that I would never smoke again. I would never smoke again by my own free choice because I now knew what smoking really was. It was an addiction. It was my enemy - trying to kill me. It was certainly NOT my friend. And in the end, it's my belief that this is the point one has to reach in order to know you will be permanently quit. You need to be able to gladly choose not to smoke. So on the eve of my 1 year quit anniversary, I don't feel a lot different than what I felt after probably 5 or 6 months quit but, this 1 year landmark is still a very special one because I have weathered the storm through all the 4 seasons and experienced all the temptations I can imagine and I know that providing I just don't ever put another cigarette in my mouth and light it on fire, I will be permanently quit I sincerely hope to be still around and able to help each and every one of you newbies celebrate your own 1 year anniversary celebration (Sorry for the long winded post but ......... I've earned the right to be annoying )
    5 points
  2. Standing & clapping for a fellow Canadian! Outstanding job!? ?
    4 points
  3. I remember some of those posts you made in the early days. Also remember thinking: this guy gets it, he's good to go. And now look at you...we've had the opportunity to watch you go from wide-eyed newbie to veteran sage right before our eyes. I motion that we give the gentleman from Canada a prolonged standing ovation.
    4 points
  4. No joking this time around, our most esteemed member reciprocity has reached the lido deck. He´s officially a non smoker, he´s gold, he made it. Peter my man, thank you for your contribution to these forums, keep this quit until the grave. Now for some freaking party!! YEAH! SHAKE YOUR BACON LADS!!
    3 points
  5. Reciprocity, reading your synopsis of the very moving year of YOUR QUIT has made me a little teary & a lot motivated. You have touched on the many phases of quitting smoking with remarkable sensitivity....I am feeling all of your fears, the stages you conquered, your steps toward freedom, your courage & your resolve to build your life without smoking. What an absolutely wonderful “night before the big day” you have shared. Thank you! I certainly look forward to your being there with the rest of the QT passengers to help Newbies like myself. Congratulations & Thank you! You are truly an Inspiration!
    3 points
  6. Rec is on the deck! Congratulations. Celebrate and enjoy, you've earned it. Here's a tune to take your victory lap to...
    3 points
  7. Congrats Peter... the first year is a great accomplishment...you know without a doubt that you can (and have) beat this.... always an addict, but never a prisoner! You are an asset here..keep moving forward! way to go....well done! let the party begin!
    3 points
  8. No matter what is going on in my life today...smoking will not be one of them....NOPE !!!!
    3 points
  9. Yep, got my dress and dancing shoes all picked out its gonna be a good one!
    3 points
  10. 3 points
  11. I didn't know there was going to be choreography involved. Get it in gear folks, this magic is not gonna make itself happen!
    3 points
  12. Overcoming Your Quitter’s Remorse. september 20, 2012 by cameron kellett If you have ever attempted to quit smoking, there is a good chance you’re familiar with the notion of quitter’s remorse. You may recognize it as the occasional feeling of regret we have over making the decision to quit smoking and cause ourselves to suffer the healing process. It is a feeling that leads us to envy those care free smokers, happily feeding their addiction without a worry in the world. The remorse will often come after recalling what it was like to NOT bear the struggle that comes with quitting smoking. It is a feeling that leads us to envy those care free smokers, happily feeding their addiction without a worry in the world and no commitment to live up to. Quitter’s remorse, I would say, is one of the biggest influences for relapse outside of the chemical dependency to nicotine. Why? Because the junkie brain feeds off it. It uses our fear and our doubt against us. If unrecognized, quitter’s remorse can lead a quitter to forget just how utterly crap being an addict actually was. So, how do we overcome it? The first step is having a greater awareness. Being able to recognise your junkie brain and its remorse over quitting, enables you to actively fight against it, and in turn, overpower it. If you are mentally prepared when the junkie brain strikes, you can quickly rationalise your way to a different perspective. Consider using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help achieve this. Another angle of attack is to build your quit smoking campaign around a genuine desire to live a life free from nicotine addiction; rather than the avoidance of long term health consequences. Learn as much as you can about your addiction! Once you understand it you can believe with confidence, all those feelings of remorse will quickly pass and eventually disappear. You will come to understand those feelings of loss or nagging regrets are completely influenced by the addiction and not your rational self. In time you will become sympathetic toward smokers, rather than envious. You will see the addict before you see the smoker. It also pays to remind yourself that smokers are almost always envious of ex smokers. Smokers often feel helplessly trapped by their addiction and hold little hope of quitting. I remember thinking that way as an addict. At the end of the day, if you are in the middle of a quit campaign and find yourself feeling remorseful, ask yourself, which do you want to be; hopeful or hopeless.
    2 points
  13. Thanks guys for your acknowledgement of this special occasion! Now .............. let's get this party started!!
    2 points
  14. Huge congratulations on one year smoke free, Reci! Welcome to the lido deck!
    2 points
  15. Awesome post, Reci! I'm thrilled that you have reached the one year mark and you have done so much to help others in their quits as well. Well done, sir.
    2 points
  16. The Dance Group has arrived...this will be fun..all together now...
    2 points
  17. Early congrats, Reci! 1 year smoke free is huge.
    2 points
  18. -20...., got it now !!! Another win ladies...chicks rule !!!!
    2 points
  19. Thanks for this Jenny. Very timely for me at this time during my quit. Not that I was going there physically but my mind wanted to me to mosey down that road and as I thought about it I just did not want the addiction to continue, this posting helped me have a stronger realization of that.
    2 points
  20. 2 points
  21. our 3 stinkers, just like having 3 x 2 year old toddlers in the house, they own us and the house and on most days my sanity but we love them
    2 points
  22. Proud of piggys achievements. Love my babe. :´)))
    2 points
  23. 2 points
  24. I struggled so much with this "remorse" in the first year or so of my quit. When I smoked, the thing I hated most was the lack of convenience. I was always waiting to be able to smoke my next cigarette. There was never a time when I could just relax because I could not get it off my mind. Even when I was smoking I was planning the next one. But once I had quit I was jealous of those who were still smoking. I didn't associate smoking with what a pain in the ass it was anymore and my "memories" of smoking were as if it were the most peaceful and relaxing thing. NOT! Some folks call this "romancing" the cigarette. Don't be undone by these kinds of thoughts. Smoking sucks. There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about it.
    2 points
  25. Joel ASKED me if he could join up and cautioned me that his presence could cause some discord. He then asked me how much I wanted him to post to which I told him he could post as often as he would like to. After all, when you Google how to quit smoking (or related searches) Joel's materials are always at the top of search results so why not allow (not that he ever needed my permission) him to post here? It would be insane not to, as his materials have helped masses of people from all over the world quit smoking. The notion that his materials are insignificant or somehow illegitimate because he never smoked is preposterous. The psychiatrist who successfully treats patients doesn't have the prerequisite to have had the same disorder in in which he/she is treating in order to see results. He or she only has to have empathy, experience, knowledge and most importantly, the data which shows efficacy of treatments. Through the many clinics that Joel ran through the American Cancer Society and on his own, he gained a vast and invaluable collection of data which came directly from smokers over the course of decades. He, like the Dr. helping a person cope with the devastation caused by a divorce, losing a job, a spouse or a child does not have to have experienced the same to help the patient. You know who spoke truth to me about my drug addiction to nicotine? My Dr. He never smoked a day in his life yet he knew about this addiction and what it would take for me to quit. He steered me to a place to get help which led me to Joel's materials. Lastly, those who mentioned that his posts were spam ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Spam is profit driven or driven for some other nefarious purpose. Joel has never made a dime from any of his materials. His time spent here behind the scenes before he ever joined was free. He has a desire to help people quit smoking and stay quit. He's never asked for anything and to assume that he posts to drive people to YouTube or elsewhere is bananas. Do you not realize that ALL of Joel's videos were posted on this site long before he ever joined?? If click bait were the case, he would have never allowed me to do this. He encourages anybody to use his materials with the goal of helping people save their lives. Talking about inflicting bodily harm to Joel because of efforts is very telling of where some people are at. Should it get asked, QT is funded solely by me; always has and always will be. Nothing on this site came to me as free as I have to retain programmers, designers, pay for licensing of the software etc. Moreoever, QuitTrain is a Registered Trademark which was also not free, but imperative to the longevity of something that myself and few others created (the Moderators) and what was created is protected. I allow no advertisements and don't take donations etc., even though I've been asked to. Hell, I don't even allow Facebook logins because in case you didn't know, when sites allow this, they gain access to your friend list and can send adverts etc. to which I want NO PART OF. I share the same desire as Joel and my moderators to freely give time and money to help ANYBODY quit smoking and stay quit. To this, you do not have the right to make false accusations regarding the motives of those who take their time and money to help complete strangers save their lives by quitting this deadly addiction. Joel will not be posting here and that is his choice. However, he will still be in daily or weekly contact with me as he has for several years now. He has lots to offer and ways to help and I am always grateful for this. QuitTrain® allows free and open membership to anybody who has a desire to quit smoking or help others quit so long as our guidelines are followed.
    2 points
  26. Thank you Octain, Jetblack, Recipricocity, Martian, Doreen, Joel, Boo, Latoya, EVERYONE!!! I could not have quit without you all. Your support has meant everything.
    2 points
  27. 2, are you ready for the party Reci??
    1 point
  28. Did nothing today kind of lazy but was on call last night and did not sleep well so tired. How is everyone else?
    1 point
  29. Congratulations! Good job!!! So very happy for you!!
    1 point
  30. Huge congratulations to you T2B! You are suck a fabulous contributor here on the Train and always lending your full support to others. Tyme to give yourself a pat on the back now though for a job well done! This 1st month is a huge hurtle to get over. Onward and upward now to even better days
    1 point
  31. That's a good idea. After three straight days of running, I've got dead legs today. Could go for a leisurely paddle though...break out the C-2 and head over to the river gorge. Alright, you talked me into it!
    1 point
  32. Present and accounted for. Call off the search party. I've had some things on my mind the last few days and have been more than a little irritable. When I get this way, it's best that I just step back for a bit. I'm not a fan of drama. Shooting from the hip when I'm in a bad mood typically leads to drama so I avoid that. And yes, I'm fully aware of the conventional wisdom that states if something is weighing on your mind you need to talk about it with others. I tried that once...hated every second of it. So, if you need me for anything I'll be up in the mountains running. These last few days have been great for racking up the trail miles.
    1 point
  33. 3 weeks today since I left my cigarettes at home. I never thought I’d make it through the day, much less three weeks.
    1 point
  34. My wife’s little bitch. She thinks she owns the damn place. We have always had a dog. Always had them as a youngster also. My dad still has two.
    1 point
  35. this is Bayleigh....My daughter wanted a puppy...I ended up with a dog... Shes been a great dog..almost 15 years old...her face is more white than brown now, but her nose still gets her into just as much trouble as it did when she was a pup....lol And then we have Baxter...this is my wife's Bichon..almost 10 years old, and still has the energy of a puppy....too high maintenance dog for me...he goes to the groomer about every 4-5 weeks....it doesnt take much for that hair to start to mat..
    1 point
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QuitTrain®, a quit smoking support community, was created by former smokers who have a deep desire to help people quit smoking and to help keep those quits intact.  This place should be a safe haven to escape the daily grind and focus on protecting our quits.  We don't believe that there is a "one size fits all" approach when it comes to quitting smoking.  Each of us has our own unique set of circumstances which contributes to how we go about quitting and more importantly, how we keep our quits.

 

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