Sazerac

Congratulations, dear one, on your Six Years of Freedom. You are the soul and inspiration of QTrain and I love and appreciate you. You give so much. Thank you, Doreen. Hope you find lots of rewards and celebrations for yourself today.

Is @reciprocity alert, awake, aware ?

9

I'm going to say #3 is the lie. I think of you as a tow head.

It is my understanding that patches do not take ALL physical or mental cravings away, they only mitigate them a bit. Your cravings are going to continue, and wearing a patch prolongs them because you are still administering nicotine to your body. This is just the way it is, all you can do is power through. Once you are ready to go patch free, then all physical cravings will be done with in a few days. Still, mental cravings and triggers will likely continue and may be challenging at times but, nothing that you cannot handle. A year's worth of triggers will be overcome as you build your successful quit. I am glad to hear you are not giving up and it is so good to see your NOPE. Learn all you can, education and commitment are two essential tools for a forever quit.

Sure, your support system here feels joyful euphoria in success and sad frustration in failure but, it is not about us . like Jillar says, We want to encourage and support, provide education and some distraction and fun as well. Some of us have Tough Love, some the Warm and Fuzzy Love. I think Jillar also said that 'it takes a village to help a quitter'. So right ! So, take what you need and leave the rest. One or many of our voices will resonate with you and the educational materials are exceptional. Know that everyone has the ability to quit, wrap your mind around that. Don't be a doubter. Commit to NOPE and there you have it !

(filing post in blog) Some quitters may have trouble with the never/ever part in NOPE (Not One Puff Ever) or NTAP (Never Take Another Puff) To tell you the truth, in the nascence of my quit, I bluffed my way through never/ever land. I remember @Cristóbal and @El Bandito qualifying never/ever with the caveat, 'just for today', and that was the truth too, it is about here and now. As days and weeks passed I absorbed the truth about addiction. Once I clearly understood addiction is forever and brain receptors immediately re-connect to addiction after one puff, I embraced never/ever/forever. If addiction was in my brain for the long haul, well, dammit, I was too...and I was going to Win ! Originally posted July 2016 NOPE ~Never/Ever/Forever (including comments) and here is a group discussion 'How Is A Commitment To NOPE Essential For A Successful Quit' and two vids from our friend, Joel Spitzer

#2 is the lie

NOPE

Welcome @NoNicChick, You may find this thread useful, Ten Ways To Effectively Use This Forum

Here is the major stress factor in your life.

and here is a thread about what helped us Your First Days, Nicotine Free

#1 will we get to the bottom of Jillar's television fame ?

OK, I'll say #3 is the lie. You don't have a kayak but, I really think you might have.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

How are you feeling @Solo ? and @richard ?

you might find this essay helpful, My Cigarette, My Friend by Joel Spitzer and here is a short video, dramatizing the essay

bump for @Diane and here is a short video dramatizing this essay

the link above no longer works. Here is the vid and here is the original essay by Joel Spitzer How do you feel about a friend who has to go everywhere with you? Not only does he tag along all the time, but since he is so offensive and vulgar, you become unwelcome when with him. He has a peculiar odor that sticks to you wherever you go. Others think both of you stink. He controls you totally. When he says jump, you jump. Sometimes in the middle of a blizzard or storm, he wants you to come to the store and pick him up. You would give your spouse hell if he or she did that to you all the time, but you can't argue with your friend. Sometimes, when you are out at a movie or play he says he wants you to go stand in the lobby with him and miss important scenes. Since he calls all the shots in your life, you go. Your friend doesn't like your choice of clothing either. Instead of politely telling you that you have lousy taste, he burns little holes in these items so you will want to throw them out. Sometimes, he tires of the furniture and gets rid of it too. Occasionally, he gets really nasty and decides the whole house must go. He gets pretty expensive to support. Not only is his knack of property destruction costly, but you must pay to keep him with you. In fact, he will cost you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. And you can count on one thing, he will never pay you a penny in return. Often at picnics you watch others playing vigorous activities and having lots of fun doing them. But your friend won't let you. He doesn't believe in physical activity. In his opinion, you are too old to have that kind of fun. So he kind of sits on your chest and makes it difficult for you to breathe. Now you don't want to go off and play with other people when you can't breathe, do you? Your friend does not believe in being healthy. He is really repulsed by the thought of you living a long and productive life. So every chance he gets he makes you sick. He helps you catch colds and flu. Not just by running out in the middle of the lousy weather to pick him up at the store. He is more creative than that. He carries thousands of poisons with him which he constantly blows in your face. When you inhale some of them, they wipe out cilia in your lungs which would have helped you prevent these diseases. But colds and flu are just his form of child's play. He especially likes diseases that slowly cripple you - like emphysema. He considers this disease great. Once he gets you to have this, you will give up all your other friends, family, career goals, activities - everything. You will just sit home and caress him, telling him what a great friend he is while you desperately gasp for air. But eventually your friend tires of you. He decides he no longer wishes to have your company. Instead of letting you go your separate ways, he decides to kill you. He has a wonderful arsenal of weapons behind him. In fact, he has been plotting your death since the day you met him. He picked all the top killers in society and did everything in his power to ensure you would get one of them. He overworked your heart and lungs. He clogged up the arteries to your heart, brain, and every other part of your body. In case you were too strong to succumb to this, he constantly exposed you to cancer causing agents. He knew he would get you sooner or later. Well, this is the story of your "friend," your cigarette. No real friend would do all this to you. Cigarettes are the worst possible enemies you ever had. They are expensive, addictive, socially unacceptable, and deadly. Consider all this and NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! Joel http://whyquit.com/whyquit/joelcigfriend.html

@Martian5 's reminder to celebrate is really important ! and remember to reward yourself. All these things solidify your quit along with your reading and posting.

Congratulations, Diane on Three Weeks of Freedom ! The second a smokey thought comes your way, replace it with deep breaths, your 'mantra', and look at something of beauty. The sooner you banish these thoughts the better and replacing them with something always available, the better too. It won't be long before you will have conquered every receptor and wrenched it away from nicotine. It really won't be long even though it might seem like forever right now.

I'm going to pick #3 because there are so many variables.

you get the big prize, @Jordan7 , I have never been to Jamaica

@Jordan7, I am not being too modest, that is the truth. lol. #1 I've been to St. Lucia #2 I've been to Trinidad/Tobago #3 I've been to Jamaica