DenaliBlues

Attaway, @Linda!

NOPE, good riddance.

So glad you are building a strong foundation for your forever quit, Overcome. Three weeks is great - congrats!

7. Put inside a locket

7. Waterbeds

2. Document evidence at a crime scene

NOPE

Congratulations on 9 years of freedom! Inspiring!

N O P E

Thanks for starting this thread, Nancy - good to see these affirmations and positive experiences. Some to add: I enjoy sleeping in. Used to be that my need for a nicotine fix would wrest me out of bed by 5 or 6 am. Now I can make it to 7 am most days. Hugging nonsmokers is more rewarding for them, and for me, now that I don’t smell like an ash tray. But the thing I enjoy most is the absence of cognitive dissonance!

hardtack

LOL, Jo’s not smokin but she may be a wee bit squiffy. 5. search online for fish taco recipes

NOPE!

Yes! The addiction is 1) chemical, 2) psychological, 3) emotional and 4) ritual. All tightly tangled, all warping our sense of what’s possible. FEAR = false evidence appearing real. Before I quit I was very afraid, too. Part of me truly thought I would keel over and die - or be perpetually incomplete - without nicotine. That was me being an addict, panicking about not getting my next fix. That part of my brain had plenty of tantrums when I quit, which really sucked. Still does suck sometimes. But I DIDN’T die. And I am NOT incomplete. I’m actually far more wholly myself than before. I still lurch along one day at a time. “Not another puff today” is a great way to begin to break free! You can do this!

“My love is like a red, red rose that’s newly sprung in June…”

2. Hop on the Quit Train

Love hearing all this goodness! You’re on a roll!

@Doreensfree, I agree that quitting is a serious undertaking and requires one to actually not smoke! "Dabbling" doesn't do it. However... ...the "whole self" and "100% commitment" ideas were very counterproductive for me for a long time. It was simply too high of a bar for me for starters. I put off quitting for years because I knew full well that I was not "100% all in." I wanted to keep smoking. My nicotine-flooded mind could in no way conceive of "never" or "forever." I felt like a loser not having a stronger desire to quit. What ultimately helped me get out of this loop was to accept ambivalence as my baseline state while shifting my focus to the behavior of smoking. I stopped trying to eliminate my ambivalence and eliminated the physical act, instead - and all the wretchedness that goes with it. With nicotine no longer turning my head into a weird house of wavy mirrors, I can now tackle the longer term emotional and psychological aspects of recovery. All of which is to say, for anyone who is hovering in a place of competing longings - just try quitting. You don't have to attain a perfect state of readiness first. I wasn't convinced at the outset, but I'm happy to be learning that I can indeed experience a full and grateful life without nicotine. The longing is less powerful on most days. Hopefully it will die altogether eventually. But even if it lingers, I've got @jillar's dirt bike metaphor to get me through. Brilliant.

Hi, @11better11. Glad to see you check in again today! For what it’s worth, Allen Carr didn’t much help me, either. Each of us is different, and that’s okay - we all have our own reasons for seeking freedom and unique approaches that will work for us. Addiction gives us a very bleak and distorted view of ourselves that is not accurate. One of my own motivations for quitting was needing to break out of that trap of feeling ashamed for my “failure” to self regulate. If you’re in a similar place, know this - you are not defective. You are more capable than your addiction would have you believe. You can follow a quitting plan, or simply pick something - anything - to do instead of lighting up. (Exercise, lozenges, games, chores… whatever works for you.) Keep us posted - we are rooting for you.