sgt.barney

The FIRST PLACE to start is to both understand AND acknowledge that the above is a lie. "I had to smoke". No. You did not have to. You wanted to. If you can't start there - complete honesty. Drop the excuses. Drop the lies. If you can't start there you have no hope. You will never be successful as long as you type and think things like the above drivel. EZPZ.

Randomly tossed the rest of the pack out the window on the commute home from work ( go ahead - arrest Sarge ... he littered ... ) and haven't looked back since. Unplanned. Unforseen randomness. Sarge admits to thinking about it for months prior (due to a bad Doc Visit (High blood pressure, high cholesterol, pre-diabetic - ( all the metabolic and health/lifestyle bullshit we're free to change but rarely do)), but it just sorta ... happened ... completely at random one otherwise un-noteworthy day on the ride home from work. It's been 8 years. It'll be a lifetime to go ... EZPZ

The Hardest Part, barre none, is deciding: "It's Time To Quit ==> NOW " ... All the rest is pretty easy. EZPZ

Because : Addiction. Duh ?!? <boggle> It's kinda the WholeIssue™ with this thing, right? EZPZ

What the ****, Juan? EZPZ

Sarge would suggest you stop looking for an external "cause" to blame It was you that "caused" you to have a smoke. You and only you. You wanted a smoke ... so you had one. Why did you want one? Because you are an addict. Nothing more. Nothing less. You. EZPZ

Two groups of people tell The Big Fat Lie: Successful Quitters: Boy that was THE HARDEST THING I ever did. I'll never do that again ... Failed Quitter: Shit, that was TOO DAMNED HARD. I'll never make it. Don't believe 'em, folks. Quitting is as easy or as hard as you choose to make it. It is, indeed, a choice. You can choose to embrace The Suck and be happy about it ... ... or you can fight it the whole way and live a life of difficult misery. The Suckage Level is gonna be high at times for all of us. It's what makes us addicts. The Big Choice is in how we react and keep drivin' on to The Goal. We can make it easy on ourselves. We can make it hard on ourselves. It's as easy or as hard as we make it. EZPZ

American Association of Retired Persons. Yes.

Yeah ... first "The Letter" from AARP for Sarge's official "Too Old For This Shit Discount Card" came earlier in the week ... Now this from Phillip Morris ... EZPZ

We can't help you. No one can. Only you can help you. When you know this, you will be quit for good. Sarge wonders if you will ever know this. EZPZ

"Plans" for quitting are generally code for "procrastination." "I can't quit until I've got my Magic Plan in place ... " Just quit now. EZPZ

Try dreaming about running downhill next time. It'll be easier . EZPZ

Sarge got the ol' "has anyone talked to you about <ominous pause> ... Periodontal Disease ... yet ...???" from the dentist one day. For years they tracked the receding of the gums. Deep cleaning / planing (horrible procedure) Imminent surgery forthcoming ... the one where they slice your gums back, peel 'em away from the teeth so they can clean the roots ... And then Sarge quit smokin. Within a year and a half, all signs of active gum disease disappeared. Receded gums will never regenerate. Bone loss is permanent. But no sign of disease and no progression in the better part of a decade since quitting. You can stop gum disease in its tracks if you quit, folks. Sarge is living proof. EZPZ

It's been a week. Where ya been, Juan? EZPZ

Sarge knew by the end of his second day he would never smoke again. The first day? Not so much. EZPZ.

You will go through the same old bullshit you went through last time. That's why it is advisable to quit once, and only once. You will never be as relaxed as you will be once you've broken the monkey on your back. EZPZ.

If one is walking in the middle of railroad tracks it is suicide. Nothing more. Nothing less. Suicide. The only question is was it intentional or not. Did he do it on purpose or was it accidental. In either case ... it is his fault, not yours. You did not kill that individual. He killed himself. EZPZ P.S. : Smoking won't help.

Sarge quite once, and only once in 27+ years. 1,000 times? Sarge says again, but corrects himself: Why quit more than once? EZPZ P.S. - Sarge believes SOS to be quite a waste of time. If one is gonna smoke ... nothing anyone says will stop you (hundreds here prove it each and every year- they post an SOS and smoke anyway) ... and if you're NOT gonna smoke, you don't need some silly internet post to stop you . You weren't gonna smoke anyway. Sarge has never participated in the SOS thread here intentionally.

You need one ... and only one thing to be a successful quitter: A desire to quit that is stronger than your desire to smoke that next cigarette. All else is noise to pollute the process. You don't need support. You need to want it. If you want it, you will quit regardless of your situation/support. If you want to smoke, you will smoke regardless of your situation/support. It is 100% an internal motivation. Externalizing it to outside events/people (a.k.a "support") is the rationalization of The Junkie Brain. Do you want to quit more than you want to smoke? That is both necessary, and sufficient for a success. EZPZ

Of course not - don't be ridiculous.

Depression is mostly imaginary. Mostly. EZPZ

Not in the slightest. Never, at all, in fact these days. Full Disclosure: Coming up on year 8 this year. It took about 10 full months to get past any kind of "difficulty" ... but Easy Peasy nonetheless. EZPZ.

Sarge always said : "Why quit twice ?" First you have to quit cigarettes ... ... then you have to quit NRT. What's the point? Why. Quit. Twice. ??? EZPZ

Vape Nation: Vaping Is Bad, Kids The Surgeon General declared youth e-cigarette use to be an epidemic, but many vaping communities online downplay the risks. What does the evidence show? https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/vape-nation-vaping-is-bad-kids/ EZPZ

Sarge had zero support from his Mrs. Sarge. She smoked. Full time. Cigarettes, lighters and ashtrays laying around all rooms of the house. Smoking every waking minute. It doesn't matter. It don't mean nothin' (not a thing (not a thing)) -- you carry on with your own plan regardless. Plot Twist: Mrs. Sarge saw how much better Sarge's life was and quit herself 3-ish years later. She's got 4 years under her belt now (to Sarge's near 8). Ignore those who still smoke. It doesn't affect you and is none of your concern. If they have some sense, they'll come around. If they don't, they won't. In either case your quit is your quit and depends on no one but you. Enjoy your new tobacco-free life. EZPZ