El Bandito

its 21st here... Congratulations Comrade! Great work.

Hi Evelyn Lots of good advice above. Most quitters struggle for all sorts of reasons. However there are some things that seem to be common to all quits. 1. After all of the thought and internal debate - it is a conscious action to smoke. Therefore - the QUITTER makes the decision. I know that your life is complicated and that you have suffered. However - you are a survivor - you have made it through. The power to quit is YOURS and YOURS alone. I know that you know this. But just think about it for a second. This quit is something completely in YOUR hands, something personal and private to you. That is empowering I think. I agree with your statement "The Power lies in me" 2. Most successful quits are statistically not the first quit. There are some people that quit first time - which is brilliant. But, I believe that most try several times. I know that I quit for 9 months in the late nineties. I relapsed - and here we are in 2014. I let the relapse cost me 15 years. You let it cost you a couple of days. I know you are the smart one. 3. The longer a quit goes on, the easier it gets. It gets easier. Each of us is different. Some folk like to be absorbed in other things and ignore the cravings. Some people laugh and say there are no cravings, some people like to 'fight' with their cravings. Shout and scream at them. Which answer is right for you - I don't know. Everyone here wants to support you the best way that they know, Evelyn. You can do this. :D

NOPE from me

NOPE for me

Great work Betsy! congratulations!

Well - that's not a good thing Evelyn is it? Right now - you know and I know that there are no silver bullets. So - get rid of all cigarettes, commit and quit. Yes - you will crave. Yes you can beat the crave. You just had two weeks done - so you have proved that it can be done. There are no shortcuts, no magic potions. You relapsed. that's done. Now quit again. If you want to win - you will win.

Hey DW! Late to this - but Congratulations! Well Done.

Hey Evelyn. Relapse is a setback. It is annoying for the person who relapses. Statistically - most people who quit suffer relapses before they quit. I don't think anyone is annoyed. We all want you to succeed. You will succeed.

don't tell me you are still on the downs though! Gorgeous here too.

Hey onefluffyleg! Thinking of you. I hope the weekend went well!

Morning Evelyn! Keep marching!

NOPE for me!

Great work Sandy! Well done you. Congratulations!

11 months is fantastic. Counting down to the big one year! Congratulations!

Sorry to hear that Evelyn. The positives are that you seem to be learning from each quit and moving forward. I know that you have a lot on your plate. You smoked. Not good, but not the end of the world. Keep fighting and you will get there.

Oops...just posted in a congratulations thread...getting a little ahead of myself! Getting closer though!

I'll join you Rowly. NOPE for me

Fantastic work Evelyn! Congratulations on two weeks.

Hey Rowly. The Quit Smoking Discussion area is probably the place to start a thread. You might want to think about a blog too. There is a blog tab at the top of the screen. Why did you smoke? You sound like you don't want to, yet you did. I'm not trying to be funny, but if you can understand why you wanted to smoke, then you can understand how to take that desire away.

Hey Trish. Good work so far. Sometimes the nagging craves seem relentless. They just wear you down through their persistence. It's preparation for the relentless way that the Tar kills you. Your addiction will play all sorts of tricks on you, tugging on your emotions to get you to smoke. Sometimes, it's just brute fierce and ignorance. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. It does get better Trish. Honest!

6 months is fantastic! Congratulations!

Great work Tiger! Congratulations!

I will join you Evelyn. NOPE for me. Just for today!

Waaaaaaaay past my bedtime. Have a generous glass or two of something white and bracing for me ;) Great to have you back Jimmy

Hey Rachael! How you doing?