June 9, 201511 yr So i just joined up. I am from Melbourne, Australia. 30 years old. My quit day is June 11, 2 days from now. I know a lot of people say you should make a day weeks in advance but i'm really desperate and i've tried to quit many times, i simply don't want to wait weeks to give this a try. Two main reasons i am here: 1) I've tried to do this heaps of times before and although i've had minor periods of success i've eventually relapsed, so i figure i need to try a new approach, cos obviously doing it alone is not working. 2) I read a lot Leo Babuata's work and he said that when he quit he joined a forum and it really helped him with accountability. The longest i've gone without smoking is about a week and a half a couple years back. A few weeks ago i managed to do 3 days then i got mad at someone and fell off. I always relapse when i get mad at something/someone. The kicker to all of this is that i'm a recovering addict (8 weeks sober). A lot of people are telling me i'm too early in my recovery and i'm taking on too much at once, but the way i see it is that i'm technically not clean anyway, because nicotine is a drug and i am currently addicted. All i have done is get clean off the other stuff. Besides that, i didnt get clean off other drugs just to replace one addiction for another, and also, cigarettes are killing me and i just can't accept any excuse form myself. I want to approach recovery holistically. Hopefully this forum can be a refuge for me because all the people in my real life just tell me to not take on too much right now and that i should worry about quitting in a few months time. Please support my decision to not wait! I am so sick of hearing people encourage me to smoke! Especially when these people are the people closest to me, it makes me feel so alone.
June 9, 201511 yr Welcome to out humble abode on the internet.....quitting can be hard (if you let it) but it sooooooo worth it(cant stress that enough!)everyones quit is different so listen to everyones advise or strategies and use what helps you.......I breathed deeply when a craving hit, drink juice also helps. exercise is great to aid in quitting. anything to distract you from the habit will help......a craving only lasts a few minutes and every time you beat a craving down you become stronger just remember that :)
June 9, 201511 yr Nicotine is a drug - you're a puppet on a string! Every time you need some, you gotta go get some. That's the nature of any dependency - all other considerations fall to the wayside. I love this forum. 99% of the time the users here try to pick each other up and boost esteem. Here is a compassionate, forthcoming place to post your struggles and successes. You will have plenty of both. I got sober March 7th 2011 but didn't stop smoking cigarettes until November 6th 2014. For those 3.5 months of sobriety I didn't need any help at all. God removed my desire to drink and I puffed away along the way. But trying to get clean from nicotine? Totally different. Without nicotine coursing through my blood I have found I need AA, this forum, and a counselor. It's a bloody war!!! But I'm determined to be victorious. I've changed my official sober date to my cigarette date. I'm 32...we're comrades in age! Unfortunately we're also comrades in anger. I call my non-smoking anger my "fury ball." Every once in awhile something (or someone) will happen and I'll feel this terribly real & solid cyst type knot inside my body. It sort of bounces around my being (physical, emotional, social, spiritual, psychological) - - - permeates all the levels - - - and sends me into a state of panicked, hurried, anxious, RAGE. I figure as long as I do not seriously harm anyone, or myself, then I will work with this rage. I'm tweaking other aspects of my being in order to alleviate this syndrome because I will not use my anger as an excuse to light up. Lastly, something I've recently noted: I am now more susceptible to other peoples' "vibes." Without a protective smokescreen I receive all sorts of messages and feelings when I'm in groups of people. It's a little overwhelming!!! BUT - that's what makes this journey so exciting and worthwhile. Because while we do feel these negative aspects, we also feel a heightened positivism...more beauty...more color. An expanded spectrum - almost as if we had been living our lives in black and white and now we're in color! You can do this. Stay close here and NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF. In the end, that's all that it takes.
June 9, 201511 yr Author Thanks for the kind words everyone, my family doesn't support my decision to quit so its nice to have some support.
June 9, 201511 yr Hi and welcome! Pleased you've found somewhere that will support your decision to quit nicotine as well. Good for you!! xx
June 9, 201511 yr You will have support here and dont let anyone make you feel like you can not quit you can, be strong keep strong you have got this! :)
June 10, 201511 yr Author Thanks a lot everyone. Well, it's almost 4PM where i'm at and i'm about to have my last smoke. Here goes. Would be lying if i said i wasn't nervous. I'd also be lying if i said i was 100% confident. :wacko:
June 10, 201511 yr You found the right train!!! I advice you to read a lot and watch Joel spitzer video'sIf there has ever been one jojo it was me 10 years long but with support and commitments I am succeeding
June 10, 201511 yr Hi Shaun and welcome :-). Quitting is doable ... We all thought we were the special case that couldn't quit but look around and see how many of us have succeeded :-) stay close and we can give you support as required :-)
June 14, 201511 yr All gone a bit quiet here.. Shaun - have you jumped ship? In case you haven't - some fabulous, informed experience above. Congratulations on being sober - and on quitting smoking. Great decisions.
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