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Thanks, Jill. To anyone who still struggles, or who got sucked back in to smoking and feels lousy about it, please (re)join us. The only things that await you here are a warm welcome and a little help along your road to freedom. We hope to see you soon.

Through all this adversity, smoking would not have helped one little bit. A timely reminder as I grapple with my own medical issues. And along the way, you not only kept your own quit… but you also supported me and many others in our bids for freedom. So grateful! There are some good souls riding this train!!

This is profound for me. In the past, I know I believed that if I had just one, I could always quit again. Yes, I became an expert quitter. But I never found true freedom. The true freedom that can be gained when you start to challenge stinking thinking. That stinking thinking that causes you to believe that smoking can offer relief from stress or enhance moments of pleasure. The real path to freedom is never taking one puff ever. Many thanks for posting this again @jillar

This is a wonderful Allegory which explains the emotional roller coaster we all have gone thorugh when we have a massive relapse and eventually get back on the wagon to resume being a smoke free human being. I for one don't want to ever put myself through the agony of jumping off the Quit Train and then trying to get back. I want to stay and enjoy the ride. Keeping my quit. today. Many thanks @jillar and @IamDoingIt

Yes, this is what addiction does. So liberating to be done with all the evasions, the minimizing, and the justifications. Freedom is sweet on a lot of levels.

jwg was an awesome writer, thanks for saving this jillar.

Congratulations on 23 years! I'm sure you're a better teacher after quitting and overcoming the challenges you've had. I think most quitters are better people because of the process.

@jillar When I moved into my apartment, I was a smoker, and smoking was allowed in the building. Now that smoking is prohibited and I've quit smoking, I smell just how much that stench has soaked into the walls, even when I'm walking through the public hallways. They're going to renovate my apartment once I move out, and I've been telling the maintenance staff for years, "I was a smoker and this place will need to be stripped down to the concrete." Hopefully I'll be able to move out to a cleaner place within the next few years.

I have often worried about thirdhand smoke, though I didn't realize that's what it was called. I used to hotbox my apartment, and while my family says they can't smell cigarettes on me anymore and I'm grateful, I know all that tar and garbage is just slathered over everything.

"..what I did do was close responses to normal dopamine that take time to heal and recover...." Yes. I, too, found quitting to be a deeply disorienting experience. To this day, I firmly believe that smoking scorched my brain chemistry. By force-feeding nicotine to my dopamine receptors, I desensitized them to other signals. Now that I have quit, I need to rebuild the neural pathways that allow me to experience other sensations of gratification and fulfillment. The path is slow and circuitous at times... but healing does happen.

So much truth in this. As we ride it out, the cravings lose their power. Thanks for sharing!!

“The trap I always fell into when trying to quit smoking was feeling that smoking somehow calmed me or helped me cope. The reality is, the only thing it did was feed an addiction to nicotine.” ^^^ 100%!

Spot on.

Thanks for sharing this again @jillar... @Cristóbal post is brilliant.

I love this post! Thanks for selecting it @jillar and kudos to @Sazerac

John was The GOAT. EZPZ

@Penguin, it is! When I bought my home years ago I decided no smoking inside and boy am I glad I did. My garage though was covered in nicotine residue. Yuck! My parents house in Florida was horrible. They both smoked in the enclosed air conditioned house and the nicotine was everywhere. Even through the ducts! We actually had to throw most of their stuff away because no one at the estate sale wanted nicotine soaked stuff and there was just too much for us to try to clean before the sale. Even the house saold for a reduced price because of it..............

Love this thinking! Great ideas here. SADNESS -Do a kindness for someone else -Do outside chores or take a walk to get sunshine on my face -Cook a pot of soup, rice or curry to make the house smell really nice -Cuddle the cats REWARD -A tall cold drink on ice - Stream my favorite show episodes -Cuddle the cats LONEY -Talk or text with a friend -Read Quit Train posts to remind myself that others, too, have struggled but succeed -Oh, and cuddle the cats…

@Genecanuck, that's not my story. It's stzr500's story.

@jillar .... thanks so much for re-sharing your personal story. Very powerful. I hope your daughter is on the mend and has found freedom from her addiction. Yes @DenaliBlues .... I also believe that I have scorched my brain chemistry by force feeding it nicotine for so many years. I have been experiencing that deeply disorienting feeling from time to time. Need to let the healing process take the time that is needed to re-wire those pathways to allow normal pain-pleasure gratification in the brain to work again. Many thanks to both of you for putting things in perspective.

Thank you @jillar... this is an importnat message for me. Yes, I was a serial quitter in the past and then I became a serial nicotine patch user. I am not making any grandiose statements about where I am going but I want this to be my forever quit - nicotine free. And I I will do this one day at a time. Awesome post. Thank you. Gene

@jillar... many thanks for re-posting this. I have been "quitting" for so long that I no longer experience the highs and lows of being on that quit smoking roller coaster. BUT, I do have to learn how to deal with the rollar coaster when it stops rocking: when the ride of life starts to feel normal... with all of the normal highs and lows in life. Life is like a slow burn roller coaster ride. And learning how to deal with the normal highs and lows of life without smoking, is the real juice of life. I know there are a lot of friends who will walk with me on this smoke free journey. Non-smokers don't have to rely on smoking to deal with the normal highs and lows in life. Many thanks. Gene

Folks make it too hard to climb. It's not that complicated. Tie in. Rack up. Send it. Don't make your mountain any more difficult than it has to be. EZPZ

One of my aunt’s house was just saturated with nicotine and tar and smoke residue. It smelled so badly. I remember sitting on the edge of the sofa because you could literally feel the stickiness of it on the fabric. After she passed they literally had to redo the sheet rock and the flooring. She died from a major stroke and my uncle passed from emphysema. They both smoked since they were young teenagers.