There have been discussions recently about NOPE and how it doesn't resonate well with some.  I understand that feeling.  When I was fresh in my quit the first few months, I wanted to believe those that have quit before me.  I wanted their sense of peacefulness and satisfaction with life without the cigarette.  I just couldn't imagine it and the daily restlessness that was occurring made it even more difficult to wrap my brain around it.  

I tend to have a scientific mind.  I want proof of things.  I had a hard time just saying NOPE...

 

But one thing I knew.  These people weren't stronger than me.  They weren't special.  I was not more addicted nor was my circumstances any more unique than theirs.  I have had tough times in my life..just like them.  So, I decided....I am just going to "go with it".  I will put all my faith in NOPE (blind faith).  I will eat, sleep, drink, laugh, and walk NOPE.  ( a few times when I craved, I would actually go for a walk and with each step, over and over I would chant the letters N.O.P.E, not one puff ever...smoking is not an option.  Over and over...over and over....(took a peek; no--still unsettled, still not feeling it)  so...continue...NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE

 

Finally finally finally....around the 6th month..i started to really feel it.  I got it. 

Doesn't mean I always felt it...the first year was a struggle at times...I'm not gonna lie...but once i "got it"  I knew I would "get it"  again.

 

Just got back from a vacation.  I am more than 2 years quit.  Vacation was peaceful and relaxing...sometimes too peaceful and boring at times....those were the times i would have filled the void with a smoke.  Especially because the person I was with smokes like a chimney and was constantly out on the balcony puffing away.  My cravings this past week were incredible.  No weaker than they were 2 years ago.  The difference is...I know better.  I know it's a trick...I know it will pass...and I know I will be a happier, healthier person because of it.

 

So.....I went for a lot of runs to burn off that energy.  It worked...I came back a non smoker...and 3 pounds lighter!  :)

 

So you see.....it matters not how long you are quit.  There are people who have quit for 15 or 20 years who still want a cigarette at times....and some of them..because they are not educated about nicotine addiction...they actually stayed quit "in spite of" themselves and their thinking.  They think they gave something up.  When in reality, they escaped. I am grateful I am not one of those people.  Could you imagine refraining from doing something you desperately want to do for 20 years...day in and day out??  no....not me..and if that was the case....I would never have quit smoking.  I would have resolved to stay a smoker for life.

 

It really is simple...it really is easy...and NOPE is really truly the way for me.  It really is.

 

Easy peasy

 

:)

 

 

 

 

I didn't want to quit when I did.  I had to, because I was secret smoker and they were raising the insurance prices for smokers.  If you didn't fess up, you could get the axe.   I couldn't, I mean couldn't, come clean.  To the point that I knew I had to give up my #1 thing in my life.

 

Once I decided I was quitting again, I started reading and watching everything I could get my hands on about nicotine addiction.

Slowly the wool was pulled from my eyes and I started to see things in a new light.

 

They say people don't change.  They can, and they do.  The idea that people don't change is just something people cling to when they don't want to change, even though they know they should.

Nice to read - this helped reaffirm my resolve to never smoke. Further more, I don't want to smoke :)

Too much in life to live for to just give it up to those awful cigarettes.

Thanks for that heading babs. I was just getting on here to whine about how tired I am of myself WHINING about not being able to smoke. In my head, but still. I didn't "want" to quit either, Ava. I had to because it is killing me. Slowly but surely. I used to hike all of the time. Now a set of stairs knocks me out. I couldn't walk a normal pace without getting out of breath. This is getting better. That is helping me keep going. Smoking was getting in the way of just being and doing normal things that before I wouldn't have thought twice about. The habit is the hardest, I think. I've helped myself a bit with "pretending". I dug out an old cigarette holder (very pretty silver thing) and I "puff" on that. It helps particularly when I am driving, which is a lot, lately.

 

Filling those moments in which I used to smoke are a challenge as well. I used to lament "I miss being bored". Boy howdy, did bored come back with a vengeance when I quit! Now, I color (there are some fantastic coloring books out there for adults I discovered ~ creative haven, dover...), play Zelda, make myself tidy those "deal with it later" piles, boxes, bags, etc., do perler beads (having a young child means plenty of crafty stuff about), crochet, stretch, etc etc etc. I can't sit still for long. I used to spend hours at my computer. Reading news, catching up, stumbling upon things...can't go back to that yet. Kitteh does not play well with idleness, these days!

 

I still get mad at smokers. I want to run up and kick them. Then steal their cigarettes.

 

Brain and I still have some work to do.

atomik...you are doing fantastic and right where you need to be.  Quitting is a process and as long as you continue to do the things that point you in the direction of remaining smoke free...you will do fine.  All these skills you are learning...coping skills...you are making a fine collection for yourself in your tool box.  This tool box you will have for the rest of your life and when you need to...you pull out the tool you need for the issue that you are currently dealing with.  That's how it's done.

Know what we as smokers had in our tool box?  A cigarette and a lighter

 

You are doing awesome!  Keep moving forward. 

I think n.o.p.e is a personal thing......no right ....no wrong......

For me.....it's a promise I make to myself every day.....

At the beginning of my quit.....it was that promise they kept me going......

By letting all my non smoking peeps see I promised.......I couldn't let them down either.....

It's worked for me.......and still does......

Hugs xx

I didn't "want" to quit either, Ava. I used to hike all of the time. Now a set of stairs knocks me out. I couldn't walk a normal pace without getting out of breath. This is getting better. That is helping me keep going. Smoking was getting in the way of just being and doing normal things that before I wouldn't have thought twice about. The habit is the hardest, I think. I've helped myself a bit with "pretending". I dug out an old cigarette holder (very pretty silver thing) and I "puff" on that.

 

I still get mad at smokers. I want to run up and kick them. Then steal their cigarettes.

 

Brain and I still have some work to do.

I have this stair stepper elliptical combo thing-it's way tough than the ones at the gym and level 4 for 40 minutes would just about do me in, but I pushed thru it most days as a smoker. The other day I was doing some kind of random routine on there and I had my iPod over the screen and I was like 'did the resistance get turned off my mistake?' Look at it, and it was at 4.

There is nothing we can't do after a while as non smokers. I run circles literally around never smokers. Cuz I'm just so happy I can do it.

 

That movie 'Looper' the woman sits on the front porch and puts her fingers to her lips and inhales air. I did that for a while when "times was tough."

 

Point is, it is going to take TiME to eliminate what I called 'junkie thinking' (I disassociated myself, it was that damned junkie). So be on guard at all times, but be a little easy on yourself when you just can't believe what you are thinking. Shake off the junkie thoughts and keep moving on. They fade, and fade, and fade.

 

There is no addiction that holds a candle to saving your own life.

Thanks Babs - I'm sorry to hear that you had some bad craves, but glad to see that you handled them like a champ!

 

Big hugs for you my friend, and congratulations on having such a great quit

You have fabulous quit Barb, a beacon of light to those in the early stages no doubt.

 

Bordem accounts for a lot of the mind games for many no doubt, I know it did for me in my past.