Sazerac

My physical cravings were overshadowed by the mental process of quitting smoking. Free Your Head, I would scream shout whisper over and over and over. It took a long time to turn the page but, the page got turned and I freed myself from Nicotine addiction and from smoky thoughts. I now use those mantras, mental techniques that I practiced while quitting in lots and lots of good ways now. Hold tight to your resolve, Christine. Soon, your smoky thoughts will grow still and silent. It's really nice when that happens. Hold on.

Congratulations Colleen on Five Years of Freedom.

Congratulations Wren on your Five Months of Freedom. Wonderful work, Wren, I am so happy you quit smoking.

Catlover ! I am sorry to be late to your party but, I can see there are still revelers about. Congratulations on your Four Months of Freedom. This is wonderful it really is. Go have some fun !

Oh Magnificent Fluffy One, Congratulations on your TEN Months of Freedom. How wonderful. Put another coat of paint on this old town tonight !

Boo's post just came in while I was writing, he is always right to the point and correct. Hello Christine, Congratulations on your quit. You just made one of the best decisions in your life. You are not a failure. You are a hero to yourself. You must realize this. You have made the decision to quit smoking. The deal is done, you are a hero. The addiction will woo, stomp and shout, scream and holler and trying to coerce you into feeding it nicotine again. Please be very clear, this is the addiction speaking. This is not you. You are a hero. You are not your addiction. Addiction is not your voice anymore. Your voice NOW is the voice of real power. You don't smoke anymore, why would you ? You will undoubtedly hit some bumps in the road, we all have. They serve to strengthen our resolve. Study, Cristine, study and learn all you can about nicotine addiction. This will add to your strength. Hang close to the board. We are always around to point you in a good direction and distract you too, if that is what you need. Reward yourself, protect your quit and get ready to become really powerful. This is a great time for you and one you will never regret. Welcome, Christine. Your quit looks really good on you. s

Quitting, along with a realized inner strength, has boosted my compassion. Always a helpful trait.

Here is a quirky Fibonacci. I am so happy I planted Sunflowers this year.

Have a great time and eat your kielbasa, girlfriend.

Holy crap, Opah ! I am so glad you surfaced. Please get better at once, you will mend better at home. What a nightmare you are emerging from. Your HAND ffs ! Wow, Opah. Please be kind to yourself, it is so good you found your way back to us. We love you. We all give a shit. S

What anyone chooses is Completely Separate From Your Quit. As our friend, Cristóbal, points out so clearly, You------->Your Quit------->Your Life I know it is difficult to disentangle emotions, particularly in a young quit but, you must, It will make it easier on you. While I didn't have a smoking partner, I have plenty reckless friends and get a thrill by silently thinking about my high ground. I know that I am not a slave to my addiction and have stars in my crown (because I put them there ! ) Let them do what they will. I can only be a shining example (and more if I keep my ego about this in check, LOL) Be honest with your partner. Kindly tell the truth, all of it, without demands or expectations. Then, let it go and get back to loving them up. This will all get easier, Ren. Protect your quit and go have some fun.

What ? No weege, no beaz ? what is the world coming to ? Haiku slow to start I ordered linen many yards of black and white new cool threads to sew

Thinking of you Iml, have a lovely time with your brother and don't worry about a thing. You quit smoking that is all. You are still the same groovy sister.

There are lots of interesting conversations in this thread some tough love, some warm and fuzzy. My favorite voice is that of our friend, The Sarge. Direct, succinct and the truth as he knows it. I had the constant battle in my head for far too long. It took dogged insistence to change each smoky thought into a clean one. I was always murmuring a mantra of, FREE YOUR HEAD. This technique continues to assist me when my mind starts obsessing over a problem or a worry. When the loop isn't serving me it can be changed into something helpful or at least neutral. Free Your Mind. Nicotine no longer rules. It is idiotic to listen to your addiction when you are the boss.

An important thing to remember is that having a successful quit is ultimately do-able and you will find new strengths in yourself that will serve you a lifetime. Anybody can quit, look at us ! We are a rag tag group of beautiful nicotine free beauties having a blast helping each other.

Hey, Iml, Remember who you are, you don't smoke anymore. You prepared the best you can, now go have a great visit with your brother.

"I quit smoking. I can do anything. And I will" These are truthful statements, Lusty one. They expose your power, your access to your power. I think sometimes after quitting, we can hold on to something like food or drink or ? and give our spoiled brat addict idiot permission to act out. Don't berate yourself about it, it is just human and can be remedied with all of the skills acquired in your quit. You know how to take control of yourself and you will. This remarkable genie is not going back into the bottle, you know too much and you have a stash of confidence to draw from. You will discover new inventive ways to reward yourself because food/drink are no longer serving you. Have some fun with this, you deserve it, you quit smoking ! This is a very big deal, the rest will settle down in time. Congratulation on your quit and on your new revolution. We are with you all the way. S

This is a wonderful moment, Iml. Watching your quit, your growth has been spectacularly beautiful. Thank you for letting us share that with you in your blogs, in your posts. It has been an intimate look at a successful quit and all of us and those lurking are so appreciative of this gift. I am so proud of you remembering to believe in yourself again and feel quite emotional congratulating you on your First Month of Freedom. Congratulations, friend of mine, congratulations. Stay strong, stay focused and remember you are your own heroine and our heroine too. S

Congratulations on your Two Years of Freedom, Jillar. Thank you for your presence here, you are a wonderful, wonderful member and we all benefit so much from you and your marvelous quit. Two years is important, Jillar, elebrate with wild abandon !

Happy Seven Months of Freedom, 7 ! You will notice, I am sure, everything is getting better and better.

Congratulations on your two years of freedom, Wayne

Congratulations on your six months of freedom, Jo. All of us are so delighted ! Your presence here is a real asset to QTrain and to anyone wanting to quit smoking. Thank you for all you do, for all you are. I am forever your acolyte, S

You are right, Boo, it is only the tip of the iceberg. I mean just look at Tar. You need gasoline to get tar off your feet. We burned tar and hundreds of other chemicals (take Chlorine for example) into the sensitive tissues of nose, mouth, esophagus and lungs. I know our bodies are magical healing machines but, this is horrible damage. There has to be intense residual effects. and Give, yes yes yes...correlation/causation...exactly. I have a very smart friend helping me and I am incredibly appreciative. We'll see how this proceeds. There is also the issue of the side effects of quitting smoking, these are far bigger than we are told and longer lasting too. Probably wise to be careful here, TMI can discourage people and I don't want to do that. No doubt, the benefits of quitting are awesome...it just takes time for healing to commence and maybe there are ways to assist our natural healing abilities. Thanks y'all.

Thank you for your encouragement, G. Smoking is far, far worse than we can imagine and like you, G, I want to learn all I can A lot of information is withheld, you need university etc..passwords to access a lot of information or, some such silliness as a doctor's note. There are also copyright considerations. It's complicated. It keeps all of us ignorant to a large degree, incredibly ignorant to a colossal degree really. I'm slowly gathering sourced information for a post in the future, concerning the hidden effects of smoking and the effects of quitting which is rarely addressed. It is taking some time but, please send me any sci based information you come across or, direct me somewhere, I'll do the reading. We deserve the truth.

Let us hear how you are doing, clarosa !