DenaliBlues

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Congrats on a good launch to your quit! I, too, found that keeping busy and distracted was essential for the first few weeks… I definitely needed a channel for all that antsy energy. But the tasks had to be pretty simple due to brain fog, LOL. Lotsa small chores around the house!

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Yeah, the urge to smoke can ambush us at really strange times… that’s the nature of addiction. Sometimes it’s an obvious trigger, but other times it’s more random and sneaky. You did the right thing by posting here and talking it through. 50 days is a lot of hard work and a great foundation. Stay strong and don’t throw it away!

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Hi there, @MLMR. Today is a GREAT day to break free! And this is the place to do it… a place where people understand how hard it is to quit smoking and can help you navigate all the wily tricks this addiction will try to play on you. Saddle up, stick close to your “why,” post here often, (re)read as much as you can about addiction, and have faith that IT GETS BETTER.

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Attaway to keep Darth Nicotine at bay! Congrats on two years of freedom and thanks for all the support.

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Attaway @Stewbum! Keep that quit rolling!

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Well done @QuittingGirl! The pull of smoking sticks around for a while, but it gets weaker and weaker over time. Congrats on your three months!

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Way to go!! Six months is a huge milestone @Brioski. You’re really rocking your quit, girl.

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I love what everyone has said here! Such important stories to share. I, too, quit because I was tired. Tired of the cognitive dissonance of loving/hating smoking... tired of being controlled... tired of the sickly yellow spots on my fingers... tired of stinking... tired of self loathing... tired of fearing that every little wheeze was the beginning of the end... and tired of arguments about how I was putting an active, all-consuming addiction into our home and placing my love of nicotine above my love for my partner. All of these feelings were so wretched. Especially because they were 100% preventable. For me, quitting was about jettisoning all of this rubbish from my life. It was about truly "showing up" for myself and my partner. I came to understand that I was not fully present in my relationships because I was always planning for how I could step away to get my next fix. I always had one foot outside. So much precious time wasted. That's not the kind of person I want to be with/for my loved ones. I didn't quit with any conviction that life would be happy and beautiful as a nonsmoker. I smoked my first cigarette when I was just 8, so smoking was deeply embedded in my identity and my daily rhythms. It wasn't something I "did" it was "who I was." I truly thought I would be miserable forever without my smokes. Turns out I was all wrong about that last part! The "you'll never be happy again" or "smoking is the only true joy you have in life" is not a factual narrative. It is how the addiction warped my mind and demoralized me to control me, tried to convince me that quitting was impossible. All stinkin thinkin. Good riddance. I smoked my last smoke at midnight before some dental surgery and never turned back. My quit has certainly not been a glide toward grace... it has been a rugged, bloody-knuckled, awkwardly lurching fight to stay quit. What kept/keeps me on track is a refusal to be controlled again - a refusal to let the addiction win again. I get to be the author of my own life, and I will not surrender that to the tobacco companies any more. I can't change the past, but I can do what's in my power for the future. NOPE!!

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Well done, @robin0212!! You’re building a beautiful quit. Happy two months!

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