Cristóbal

Keep looking to the future. Realize that once you confront most of your holidays triggers in your first year, the rest of the holiday seasons in the coming years will be very much more easier to handle. You really have to do this only once. Cristóbal

Hello Sazerac, I am late to your party (and to mine as well), but.......you still hit 7 years, and that is just terrific !!! Congratulations, and its great to see you helping others. Cristóbal

Congratulation Johnny5 on 6 years, that is just wonderful !!! Cristóbal

Congratulations Sarge on 9 years !!!

It is all about science. Once you are a nicotine addict, you will never be able to control your smoking. The Law of Addiction says: "Administration of a drug to an addict will cause re-establishment of chemical dependence upon the addictive substance." This applies to nicotine. This science will show you why you cannot have just a puff or two. Follow this link: Nicotine Receptors In Your Brain Cristóbal

Thank you John for posting this! Sometimes people who just quit smoking, and are experiencing all type of turmoils and every day without smoking is extremely important, ask people with long term quits "What does it feel like to be quit for a long time ?" I can honestly answer that question with what happened with this 8 year anniversary. I completely forgot !!!

Hello Ceeray, welcome to QuitTrain !!! The "impediment" you mention in your second comment, is that you have not yet made a commitment with yourself to stop putting nicotine into your body. You are a nicotine addict. You are addicted to this drug. Smoking is just the delivery method. If you do not make this commitment with yourself, then quitting cold turkey or using other methods to quit smoking, will never work. You will continue to smoke or battle with quitting smoking for the rest of your life. That is where you are right now, and that is why you are where you are right now. Methods of quitting smoking do not do the work for you. You have to do it. And you cannot quit smoking without that commitment with yourself, to never put nicotine in your body again. Take time to have this serious discussion with yourself. Then, when you finallly make that commitment, be your own best friend and love yourself by never breaking that commitment with yourself. . And.....starting with day one.....one day at a time......becomes the rest of your life. Cristóbal

Hello, Unless you were on QSMB years ago, you probably do not remember or know about Jonny 5. However, this very inspirational poster is celebrating his 8 years anniversary today !!! Happy 8 Years, Jonny 5 !!! Below is a re-post of one of Jonny 5´s famous posts from QSMB - Enjoy !!! YOU AND I ARE NICOTINE ADDICTS, THESE ARE THE RULES Posted 26 January 2014 - 02:48 PM If you smoked, and continued to smoke, even knowing it was very dangerous, then like me, you are a nicotine addict. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE ADDICTED TO NICOTINE, CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE THAT CAN'T BE REVERSED because you are a nicotine addict, you can never casually use nicotine without reawakening the addiction THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CONTINUE TO USE NICOTINE BECAUSE YOU ARE AN ADDICT You can put the addiction to sleep, and live as if you have never smoked, never troubled, or distracted by cravings. TO ESCAPE YOU MUST NEVER INGEST NICOTINE EVER AGAIN, OR YOU WILL GO THROUGH WITHDRAWAL AGAIN sure, the habit part of the addiction may have been disrupted or broken through your quit time, but following relapse the physical withdrawals could lead you back to full time smoking again. I UNDERSTAND THAT MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY HAS BEEN ALTERED. I UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF INTRODUCING NICOTINE INTO MY BODY, I UNDERSTAND THAT I CAN NEVER TAKE NICOTINE WITHOUT MY ALTERED BRAIN RESTARTING THE ADDICT CRAVINGS ALL OVER AGAIN DO YOU?

On October 14 2012, I woke in the morning and decided on a whim to not smoke for one day. I had been smoking for over 30 years, 2 packs a day for most of those years since I was a teen. I had not thought too much about quitting, my health was good and my quit was not planned - I thought I liked smoking - but for some reason on the day I quit I decided that I was becoming tired of it. After several days my wife realized I was not smoking and decided to quit also. My cold turkey quit was very easy. I did not ever have days that I thought were very difficult. However my wife´s cold turkey quit was awful for her, so at 36 days of my quit I looked for support for her. I found this support for her on QSMB (Quit Smoking Message Board forum where many people on QuitTrain came from). I thought that with that forum I was going to help only her, but as I spent more and more time there I realized that I was actually helping both of us.....and then with time I transformed from being a student to being a teacher, and became involved with helping people quit smoking and find freedom from nicotine addiction wherever and whenever I could. This activity continues today. It is my personal passion and mission to this day to help people quit smoking, and demonstrate that with education about nicotine addiction and support it is never impossible for any smoker to find permanent freedom from cigarettes and nicotine, and a longer life of much higher quality. If you are struggling with your quit, or still smoking and just thinking of quitting, it is important that you internalize the fact that it is *¨NEVER IMPOSSIBLE* for any smoker to quit smoking permanently. Commitment to your quit, and to your education about smoking and nicotine addiction, are the keys to your permanent freedom. Cristóbal

It is so good to see that Bakon has a 7 years quit. We quit at aproximately the same time. My feelings about smoking at 7 years quit are the same as his: "No interest in smoking, and I feel sorry for people who continue to smoke". If you are still smoking and reading this thread, remember the title of Bakon´s thread: "Starting now....." It is never impossible to quit smoking, and you can start RIGHT NOW. Cristóbal

Hi Jan, I am happy to see you have joined QSMB. Congratulations on 9 years !!! Cristóbal

¡Felicidades mi estimado! Cristóbal

It can be helpful when you quit, to imagine your quit like this: This allegory is completely correct in every way possible that you can imagine what the reality of quitting smoking really is. Of course the Grim Reaper is still a smoker.....and you are not any longer......so the longer you keep your quit the more faster you can run than him. Cristóbal

Hi Peeper, What you are missing from Most people who quit smoking do not use a forum, or study ways to quit. They simply make a decision to "Never Take Another Puff", and then keep the commitment with themselves. A big danger of studying different ways of quitting is to believe that studying is what will keep your quit. It does not. What is missing from your quit, is that you have not yet made your commitment to "Never Take Another Puff". It does not make any difference how many times you read Alan Carr's or EasyWay materials or watch Joel Spitzer's videos, or use nicotine patches, nicotine gum, Chantix, accupuncture, hypnosis.... Without this commitment, you will always fail. That is the answer, to your question "what I am missing to free me from this slavery". Avoid "analysis-paralysis". The very tall "quit smoking" mountain you think is front of you, is a illusion. Your F.E.A.R. is actually "False.Expectations.Appearing.Real". Keep it simple, make your commitment with yourself to never "Never Take Another Puff", and simply do not look back. That is all you really need to keep your quit clean, easy to maintain, and 100% successful. Forever. Cristóbal