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When I quit, it was primarily out of frustration with the cigarettes being in control of my life. I was sick and tired of being a slave to the smokes. With that in mind, any time the voice of addiction was trying to convince me that "just one" would do the trick I thought beyond the "one" and saw where it would lead. One turns to two. Two leads to three. And so on. I knew if I smoked one, I would be right back at 25-30 per-day. And recognizing that I would have ceded control of my life back to the smokes, that would have meant that I would be constantly thinking about how desperately I needed to quit. Sometimes breaking the cycle is a simple matter of putting your head down and continuing forward progress. Once I had a couple of days under my belt, I figured since I was already on the right trail I might as well keep on hiking.

"What are things that help you stay a non smoker ?" I have chosen to never ever smoke again and I stand by that commitment every day. Continuing my education about nicotine addiction also feeds my quit. Addiction doesn't 'creep back in' we make a conscious choice to smoke or never take another puff.

I just remember how I felt just before I quit smoking -- that can help. One thing I do is still come here daily to read and to do the daily NOPE pledge so that I keep my focus and commitment to not ever smoking again and that has been a game changer. Also remember to you have to remain ever vigilant to the voices of addiction (as Boo calls it) because the nicodemon is always calling out to you -- the good thing is that the longer you are quit it gets harder and harder to hear or pay attention to that voice. And answering questions like this that may come up (good question by the way) helps keep my mind in the right place!!!!!

G’day NOPE starts my day

And it is NOPE for the first day of the weekend!!!

Finding a forum with people who understood what I was going through was instrumental in helping me. Doing the NOPE pledge daily and continually telling myself that all good(?) things must come to an end really helped keep my mind on the prize.

Fear.... When I arrived here. I was in fear of having my feet amputated.....due to smoking.. Quitting when I did ...I avoided this ... Why would I go back there ..not a chance ....

Hello everyone, since most have you have a much longer quit than me what are the things that stop you from letting that nasty addiction creep back into your life?

A support forum like this one. It really gave me a sense of accountability in my quit and wound up making quitting a much more enjoyable experience (something I didn't think possible). I also read Allen Carr's The Easy Way to Quit Smoking. Some people don't like that book but it really helped me realize that smoking did nothing positive for you at all and that quitting is one of the best things you can do. I still wouldn't call it an "easy way" but that book helped me and many others. I smoked for 20 years. The first 10 years, it was a very sociable experience. The longer I smoked, though, the more of my smoking friends either quit or I lost track of. I eventually grew to think of smoking as living under a dark cloud (literally and figuratively) of negativity, isolation and poison. I wanted out of that. When quitting, I really tried to focus on the positive. In time, you will see that smoking does absolutely nothing positive for you whatsoever. There is no negative in quitting. It can be tough but it is worth it.

Thanks everyone. It never hurts to have as many way to stay a non smoker that you can get. I don’t like. To be controlled by anything and cigarettes have Certainly done that to me for many years. It’s time I take back my time. Geez when I think about all the things I’ve missed because I was smoking.

NOPE!!!!

Right from the start NOPE !!!!!!

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NOPE! Don't F with me Nicodemon .... my mother's a mean sow!

NOPE (I'm back from my NC roadtrip....guess what I saw down there in tobacky country...an empty, out-of-business cigarette outlet store!!!)

Not feeling that cigs are controlling my life was a factor and the bad feeling when you have to find a reason to slip out or just get away from a group of friends to take a smoke.

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Your body has been used to pumping in loads of chemicals posions 20 times s day for decades... If will take time to adjust .... Keep winning your battles ...keep your eye on winning the war ...

NOPE!!

Concussion is ok .....Smoking isn't .....as long as don't smoke your safe here......

NOPE

I use twizzlers hold them like a cigarette. Take a little bite yummm

Another thing that helped me, especially with really bad craves, was my JAC (jillars air cigarette). I just pretended I was holding an actual cigarette in my fingers and then went through the motions of "smoking" it. Some use cut straws, pens, etc.

This. My thoughts exactly

Sound frickin grouse....and to complete the old man scene a grandkid on ya knee. I miss them from when I lived in Darwin...during the build up we would get them without rain but man that skyline at night Frick awesome.

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Nope !

G’day NOPE..... for an early start. And a Dingo breakfast ..... a pee and a quick sniff around

So, I'm lying in bed, unable to sleep again, tossing and turning, worrying and wondering. Wondering why you rarely see unicorns with a saddle. I mean, I get why the unicorns without riders don't have a saddle. They portray the magical wild and magical freedom, kinda like wild mustangs on the prairie. But when you see a rider on a unicorn, they're usually riding bareback, grabbing on to it's mane. ( which, I must say , if I were a unicorn I would get pissed if you pulled my mane) But you never see a saddle. Not even a blanket. I think that a unicorns hair is course and stiff, like wire....like a wild boar. That would be uncomfortable . It would chafe the inner thigh. Especially when the unicorn reared up on it's hind legs and you had to squeeze tight to hold on. The whole magical adventure would kinda suck. I would need, at the very least a blanket. Oh sure, I could wear jeans or maybe chaps,unicorn chaps, but It's Summer and it's my magical adventure, so I'm wearing shorts. I would definitely want a saddle. Maybe with a high back. Like a bucket seat and foot pegs instead of stirrups...yeah....foot pegs. Then I got out of bed, thought about cooking some bacon, but ate a pop-tart instead, cuz it's easier. Then it dawned on me that I just spent about 3 minutes thinking about unicorn saddles.....and that I am ,indeed, insane. But I also realized that ,although I'm having trouble sleeping,and that quitting sucks.... I am still a non-smoker. In the end, I may not be getting 8 hours of slumber, I may be eating too many pop-tarts, my thighs may be rubbed raw because damn unicorns apparently don't come with saddles.....but I didn't smoke today, and that's pretty magical !!

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NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

A saddled unicorn, pegs, cute chick with an annoying voice. This could easily be porn but, it may be nightmare fodder. Glad you are powering through the fog. Stay focused. Quitting DOESN'T suck. SMOKING SUCKS and Freedom is Delicious

Gee Joe, a Pirate thinking of unicorns seems like a nightmare to me. Your still in the tough part of quitting. I promise it will get better just around the corner. You are doing great and I love your humor.

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Nope! Happy Friday everybody!

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

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Ah thunderstorms -- love them. Don't get them up here often but this summer has been the exception -- have a couple big ones the last couple of weeks, even had an EF0 tornado in Portland across the river (no serious damage or injuries). Love the light show, the heavy rain, the booms -- great way to go to sleep!!!!

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Love your posts eighttoeJoe, you gave me quite the giggle although I have to disagree with unicorns having course and stiff hair. Every unicorn I've ever seen, and I've seen a bunch back in the day if you know what I mean , had long flowing hair that I could only imagine was soft as silk. But seriously, you're doing so good, I love the attitude and I do agree that oscillating is a pretty cool word.

Sorry you smoked Kate ,but glad to see you have taken your seat back in the train ... Never give up ,giving up....do whatever it takes .... Remember your not giving up anything but poison that will kill you ...your freeing yourself... Wake up each day ..shouting Yipee I'm free...a Fabulous Non Smoker....I'm no more a slave to that Nico Monster.

Toes, so sorry that you have a rough time with sleep. Please keep telling yourself that this will be temporary, because it is, my friend. This will pass, it really really will. In the mean time, keep writing. Its important to have a place to go to with these thoughts. My sleep is better than its ever been in my life. I awake so much more relaxed than I used to, my body and brain do what they are supposed to do at night: rest and heal. Soon enough you will reach that stage as well. Take care, upwards and onwards . ,<- thats a poodle, yes. No unicorn in stash.

Smearing one's thighs with Pop Tart jam (if that's what it really is) prevents chaffing from unicorns. However, it does cause constipation to the animal. I found that my sleep began to normalize after a month or so.

wow......sleep deprivation....so sorry for the 3am ramblings . Don't they use sleep deprivation at CIA black ops interrogation sites? If they don't,they should because I would admit to being on the grassy knoll as JFK drove by, just to catch some zzz's. I knew this would come, this latest test of my journey, but it doesn't make it any easier. Averaging about 3 hours a day for the last week. Last night I told myself that "Just a few smokes a day wouldn't be that bad" ya know....that old chestnut. I kicked that plan to the curb. But this sure is a test , isn't it. Forgive me for my sleepless ways....Thanks for lending me your support once more. Have a great day !