sgt.barney

> Remember when life wasn't so difficult No. As far back as Sarge can remember ... life was difficult. EZPZ

Stress doesn't trigger a crave. Stress is just an excuse that you will latch onto. EZPZ

Failure is a choice. Choose otherwise. EZPZ

EZPZ

One is never "helped" by taking away freedoms. EZPZ

(1) This is not The State's place - despite what folks think, this is a giant leap of overstepping bounds. Then again, The Sarge thinks same for banning of all drugs. Not government's place. (B) Did no one learn a thing during Prohibition? Or the (still better - and relevant/current) spectacularly unsuccessful failure known as The War On Drugs? (iii) Only Government can take something this bad and sell it as a GoodThing™ EZPZ

The Sarge doesn't particularly care that you choose to take a simple statement of fact as "belittlement". He can't help how personal perceptions warp the reality that NRT requires quitting a minimum of twice into some kind of personal insult. If you choose to take that as "belittling", that's your problem - don't blame Sarge. He doesn't care. EZPZ

EZPZ

You are making it harder than it needs to be. Quit once. Quitting twice is redundant ... and twice the effort. What matters is the folks who end up hopelessly addicted to Vape (or Patch (Or <whatever>)) ... just like they were addicted to smokes. Trading one addiction for another is not a positive gain. It's a lateral move. Ending up in the same spot. Thinking you've made progress when you went nowhere. EZPZ

Sarge always wonders: "Why quit twice ?" First you quit the smokes ... then you quit <whatever> (vape, patch, pills, lozenges, <whatever>) ? Just quit once and be done with it. It's TheWayToGo. For. Sure. EZPZ

> Trying 2quit again bad timIng There is no "bad timing" ... or rather, the junkie-addicted mind will always tend towards a "it was just bad timing" rationalization. Too much going on. This. That. The Other. Obligations. Stressors. Situational pressures and anxieties ... But that is the addiction rationalizing impending failure. In reality, any time - AT ALL TIMES - it is a GoodTime to quit. Also this: The only way to quit is to actually quit. Stop "trying" - it is another addicted mind delusion. "well ... I tried ..." Not good enough. Stop trying to quit and ... y'know ... actually quit. It makes a world of difference. > What does everyone do when they get a craving ? Distract yourself, eat, mints,etc ? The Sarge laced up his running shoes and ran a mile as fast as he could. Guaranteed crave killer. For hours. EZPZ

Dishonesty is the #1 impediment to success in quitting. Every one of those Junkie Thoughts is dishonest. Most rising to the level of Outright Lies. First and foremost under the Dishonesty Banner for most folks? Denial. We all know the facts here. We knew them all along. We chose willful Denial. ** Sarge is wagering that she never successfully quit. EZPZ

Batman? Superman? PFFFFT ... nope. It's, hands-down, no-questions-asked SHIRTLESS GIRL !!! EZPZ!

The Sarge ain't buyin' any "vow" brought to you by Philip Morris < Article here > EZPZ (He does, however suspect that they will heavily transition into The Wacky Weed when it is legal nation wide)

Additional Data Point: While you can never reverse the damage of periodontal disease, it can be halted in its tracks. One day, unexpected and out of the blue, the nice hygeinist lady asked "Has anyone talked with you about ... <erie pause> ... Periodontal Disease ... Mr. The Sarge ?" ... "Uhhhhh ... nope ..." Progressed for 3 years. Had to have the ol' under-the-gumline root planing / deep scraping. Twice. Next up: Surgery. They basically cut the gums away from the jawbone, roll 'em outa the way, and go to town on the teeth roots. Yikes! Fast forward 2 years: Quit smoking. Active Gum Disease all but disappeared. Gums returned to pink, and plump, and healthy. No sign of active disease for the past 5 years. There's still the bone loss and receeded gums ... but it's stable. No change in half a decade. They even quit measuring and reading out the numbers (Sarge wasn't quite as bad - highest of 5 (2,2,4,3,5,4,5 3.3....) ) at every appointment because they were no longer changing progressing. Two changes were made: (1) Flossing twice daily - whether needed or not (previously Sarge only flossed when a hunk o' something was stuck up in there) ... and (2) quitting the cancer-sticks. Dentist could neither confirm nor deny which had a larger benefit, but the two together cinched the deal. Quit smoking, folks. Your future teeth will thank you. Sarge had perfectly sound, healthy, good teeth that would have fallen out of his head by now due to bone loss from the gum disease. Now? Problem solved. Complete remission. No sign of active disease. Sarge is certain he'd be in dentures by now if he hadn't quit. EZPZ PS: Your heart and arteries will love you, too. There's a funky correlation between gum disease and heart disease.