intoxicated yoda

nice job @Gus hope you are still celebrating the milestones.

very interesting that you would notice that. maybe you should try comparing that to how you smoked. the way you held the cigarette, the inhale, the exhale, the relaxation after the exhale ended. then do everything just without the cigarette in your hand. you might come to see that your subconscious is giving you the insight that you never needed the cigarettes. you just needed to learn to relax by taking a few breaths in that manner. also i could just be full of shit. hhahah. seriously, i never paid attention to how anybody else smoked, but I did come to the realization that I could get most of the relaxation of a cigarette by going through the motions without the cigarette. Some here called it JACs. Jillars Air Cigarettes.

Look at it this way, bud...you were 63 and 0 in terms of winning days not smoking. Now you are 63 and 1. Still a great winning record. The great ones always train harder, focus harder and come back to win again. Focus on getting to 100 and 1....then 200 and 1. By the time you get to 365 and 1 that 1 loss won't mean anything. Just because you slip doesn't mean you have to fall. good luck.

If you believe it's going to lead you to a relapse then don't play with the smokers. I did play alone most of the time and the smokers were always some rando's i'd get paired with, but let me tell you...it was always a source of self pride to have a great day on the course (regardless of how i played). Reinforcing that knowledge that life and enjoyment doesn't end when you quit smoking was a great motivator for me. Always remember, you don't need the cigs. It's the cig CEO's that need you. Don't let them use you. Good luck.

Golf was a huge part of my quit. That first round was tough, ngl. But I got through it and realized the cigs didn't make it any more or less enjoyable. After about my 3rd round without cigs I would look forward to playing and even enjoy the smell of someone else's freshly lit cigarette. In fact, golfing was about the only time I could get any relief from the constant craving attacks I would get so I played a lot. So focus on the golf and enjoy that and I think you'll find that you don't need the cigs to have fun. good luck

way to go @DenaliBlues congrats on 4 years quit. hope you get to treat yourself today.

congrats reci...it's been fun being on the train with you.

why did i start? probably because i thought it would make me somebody i wanted to be. it didn't...but i didn't figure it out before I was addicted. but isn't that the way marketing for cigs works? make you think that everyone else will think you are one of the cool kids? but we all know who we really are deep down. the genius of the marketing isn't to fool us into thinking we will be someone else, it's to fool us into believing we will fool everyone else into thinking we are some different, but to everyone else we are still the same ol' idiots we always were with the addition of looking more stupid with a cigarette hanging out of our mouths. then after you mature enough you realize that there are no such thing as the cool kids, we are all weirdos of our own brand but isn't that what being 'cool' is all about? yep...we all got faked out but when you can appreciate the genius of the lie you can heal your own ego and walk away from it. no shame in getting fooled, only shame is in staying the fool. congrats all you quitters and happy new year.

talking to yourself generally are the most intelligent conversations you can have. Congrats on making it this far tho. It takes real guts and determination to get past the first week. After that you just have to be a stubborn s.o.b. to get past the next six months. After that you get used to being away from the habit and life starts to return to normal. I know it doesn't sound glamorous because it ain't. it's a slog but you'll be much better off having done it. stay the course.

congrats nsj on 8 years quit. always liked that handle. keep your left up. heheheh

@tocevoD you need to ask yourself if you want to be tied to a crutch. if you were getting over a broken leg you would want to get off the crutch and strengthen the leg so you could walk unaided and pain free, right? that would be the goal. So why would you want to keep the crutch while getting over the addiction of smoking? To get over the broken leg and to strengthen it you must endure some pain. This is no different. You can't cheat the process by replacing one vice for another and expect to beat the addiction. It's not easy but it is simple. Don't over complicate it. Otherwise you will just end up bouncing back and forth between NRT's and cigarettes. Other people can give you encouragement but only you can quit. Hope this gives you something to think about.

Thanks for all you do to keep this site going @MarylandQuitter and congrats on 12 years quit.

congrats @Doreensfree not sure how I missed this but in my random adventures here but better late than never I guess. Sending you lots of good vibes on a stellar quitaversary. Thanks for all your help during my quit.

congrats @Cbdave 10 years is a fantastic start to never again. Much respect to you.

Thanks QG! I'm not sure about the inspiration part but hey, if me quitting doing dumb shit inspires others to quit doing dumb shit too then I guess it's a win for everybody, right? May all of you be blessed and stay away from the cigs.