notsmokinjo

NRT worked for me purely because my issue was more about the habit and psychological addiction than it was the physical...once I broke the back of the habit, of the psychological compulsion is stoped the gum. The nicotine side of it was much easier for me. Do I feel that NRT prolonged the angsty, early stages of my quit?...yep, if for some stupid reason I had the time over would I use the NRT again?...yep, why??? Because it worked for me... it's doesn't work for everyone, many don't need it.. but I did. SOS helps just as many as it doesn't. If you don't bother to post an SOS you'll never know if it works for you.

Ready, willing and able.

Hows this for the Ashkickers???

Looks like he's snuggling up with Boo and Sugar Britches. Although I had been meaning to ask just what Reci and Jillar had been up too....

What the hell is Thundersnow????????

Congratulations @Sonic for being smoke free for 5 Years. Well done Sonic, five years is a wonderful achievement and see's you half way to a decade. Hope you do something special to celebrate this milestone.

Camphor and eucalyptus.

Congratulations @Wantsit for being 5 Months Smoke Free. Well done Wantsit. What a nice base you have built to grow your quit from. Its great to see you in the NOPE thread and around the boards sharing your support with others. Would love to hear how you celebrated this milestone.

@abbynormal 25%er.... you were about to get a late one too... again with the flu med drug haze... not much of anything substantial went on last night from me, humblest appologies. So welcome to the 25%ers club, you are officially 1/4 of the way through your first year quit. You are doing so well Abby and paying it forward to those coming behind. Hope you did something special to celebrate.

I was just coming in to post a belated woohoo for your 8th now I'm not flying high on cold and flu meds... I fudged my way through work, then did Stewies on the train home, got home took some meds and went to a wonderful woozey place but dripped the ball on you and Abbynormal.... I even looked at the dates and went.... no Linda is 8th of Jan.... cos thats how we do dates here....sorry, sorry, sorry.... but reading this I missed your 7th too.... looking at the list its like poor Tammy, there is one lonely little name with lots of colour (people who have vanished) before and after and for some reason just like I do with Tammy I missed you last month.... SO.... I am going to past all the coloured names into a seperate spreadsheet, hopefully they come back one day but that way I wont miss all our excellent, lovely quitters who deserve to be celebrated and lauded. So this is what was sitting on my file to upload..... Congratulations @Linda Thomas for being 8 months Smoke Free! Well done Linda. 8 months is 2/3rds of the way to that Lido deck. You have come so far from that timid lady who posted about not being sure if she could quit, wondering if she had left it too late, and being so unsure of herself. Now you are right there in the thick of it, helping your fellow quitters if they SOS... keeping us laughing in the social threads...welcoming the newbies and encouraging those coming behind. We are so lucky to have you. So do something special just for you, even if it is a walk to the lake with the kids (those naughty fur babies) and a thermos of hot chocolate, to just sit and be.

Sucking it up....with my Rudolph nose and my cracked swollen lips .. we have someone here from the Sydney office getting training, so yesterday I told him I kept sneezing because I was allergic to his aftershave... So today I sneezed and he said he had different aftershave on so maybe I was sick ??? No shit Sherlock! .... So when we were sick this is what we got served as chicken noodle soup So basically yellow water with little bits of noodle... I want @Rozuki soup.

How could I forget tomato soup!

I kid you not...go to you local curry shop and get an extra extra Hot Vindaloo . Eat . Next day huge improvement.

So I am torn between two.... The honey lemon is what I grew up with... the Vindaloo though, that works without fail, every time... guess what I'm getting for tea tomorrow.

Not at all... I did not think that at all... I just want you to realise how far I think you have come and how much you have grown and see yourself for the strong, powerful woman you are. All good sweetie. I need to take my own advice most of the time, so I understanding your sentiments exactly, about knowing it and acting it. I just believe if enough people who care and worry about us tell us these things, one day the message will sink in and we will follow the advice. Yes you could have been something different but you are not, you are who you are, perfect despite your imperfections. So of course you can grieve what might have been but don't forget to rejoice in what you are too.

The most important person you need to worry about what they think is yourself...do what makes you proud to be you, be proud of yourself, know your self worth...the people who matter will not care if you are not perfect or kicking goals all the time...they will not care if you have a bumpy day, or a grumpy day.... Succeeding in life is not so much about how much you achieve and what you have but being happy and satisfied with what you have achieved.

So I have a cold, and as I sit here drinking my hot toddy I'm wondering what all my friends around the world do when they have a cold or are sick. This is purely the home remedies, things our parents or grandparents did to help us...it might be a placebo or there may be a scientific basis to it but what home remedy do you swear by... These are just ones I can think of so feel free to share any others. I think this will have ties back to people's cultural heritage but ya never know.

Considering Ankush is anti-NRT that's a rather odd question Lilly. Welcome Ankush, tomorrow is the big day, wishing you strength and commitment...no luck in a quit, just perseverance. You can do this.

Right now I am blowing my nose for the 563,798th time today...and feeling like Rudolph.

Sometimes I deliberately drop the third strike so I can ping the batter between their shoulder blades accidentally on purpose when I throw to first.

Well ya not coming here...takes more than a weekend just to arrive....how do the kids feel about an expat mum?

What expectations will you never meet? Just talking quit here...expectation that you can go 1 hour without a smoke... mastered... Expectation you can go one day without a smoke...nailed it...and a week, and a month, etc....but honestly to have a successful quit you only ever have to focus on one day at a time. I'm sorry today is a rough one....but you have come so far despite all the horrible things you have faced since you quit...you are right you are not the person you were before you quit...you used to think you could only be strong puffing on a cigarette, hiding behind a cloud of smoke...but now despite all the hurdles you face, you are standing strong on your own two feet...saying here I am life, give me your worst and I will stand strong, and tall and true... You are so much stronger now than when you first quit...you amaze me at times because you deal with many things others don't face and still you do not smoke....I know when your down it seems so much worse but it's not... You can do this chook.

Pork Chop, my one and only Bigus Dickus....woohoo mate on being 3 years smoke free....miss ya heaps it's just not the same without you...so today while I think of you and wonder what your up to there is no word in my language, or English , to explain how I feel so I will use a word from yours, saudade. So happy for you being 3 years free of the nicodemon. All my love Incontinentia Bullocks!

Congratulations @Stewietech for being smoke free for 3 years!! Well done to our favourite Lad!... Three years is fantastic and we know you've moved on to bigger and better things but whatever today brings in your corner of the world know that we are all thinking if you and raising our glasses in celebration. Would love if you popped in to say hi... We miss your humour and support.

Have a wonderful time with all the festivals and in the garden....will miss you heaps