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Share your quitting journey

You CAN quit. And, yes, I am talking to you new folk who have just found this website. Stay. Read. Listen. And become one of us. Please read my story...

SkyGirl
Member
7 25 590

I came to EX because I wanted to quit smoking.   Not for just a while.  FOREVER.  I wasn't sure I was ready.  I wasn't sure I had what it would take...  I wasn't even sure I WANTED to quit.  Because being a smoker was part of my identity; my life revolved around when I could smoke, where I could smoke, how many cigarettes I had left, where I could buy another pack...(I KNOW this sounds familiar to many of you!)

But I came to EX and I opened my mind...  I listened (even to the things I didn't want to hear...)

  
   I recognized that many of the people here had already achieved the exact thing that I wanted to achieve:    happily living a life without nicotine.
  
     
  
   So I read what they told me to read.  I read Allen Carr's book.     I did the Tracking and the Delaying exercises.  I went to the other sites that were recommended.  I was scared and not sure, but I DID all the things that all these successful EXers had to tell me...   And I set a date.  A Quit Date.  A day that I would do whatever it took to start living my life without being a slave to my nicotine addiction.
  
     
  
   I was a STUDENT and I learned how I could stop being a nicotine addict.  It wasn't easy.  But I spent a LOT of time here on EX and got to know people and accepted the support and friendship they were so happy to give to me. 
  
     
  
   It was like a lightbulb went on in my head on the day that I GOT it.  Poof! 
  
     
  
   I understood COMMITMENT instead of "trying", "attempting", "hoping". 
  
     
  
   I understood taking PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY instead of wishing for "luck", and blaming "stress", "weakness" or "being around smokers". 
  
     
  
   I understood seeing quitting as FREEDOM instead of seeing it as "sacrifice", "giving up", "suffering through" or "losing" something. 
  
     
  
   I understood that the feeling of so-called "enjoyment" and "need" was no more than my physical addiction calling out to me...and that I didn't have to listen to it! 
  
     
  
   When I quit, it wasn't "EASY".  Sorry, Allen Carr, it wasn't.  But I had a whole new way of thinking about it and that made it EASIER. 
  
     
  
   I've been here for a while now.  I have about three years of  freedom from nicotine.  I still can't belive it's been that long when I see it in writing.  But I have more than that.   I have the knowledge, the understanding, the thinking, the confidence and the TOOLS to know that I will never ever smoke again.  
  
     
  
   And I have all that because I LISTENED to the people here and I FOLLOWED their advice.   
  
     
  
   To all the new folks who have just joined us here:  Whether you stumbled in here by accident while browsing or if you researched carefully in order to find a great stop-smoking site...it doesn't matter.   
  
     
  
   Because    your addiction to nicotine is no stronger nor harder to beat than our addiction was.  You CAN quit.  If we could do it, so can YOU.   
  
     
  
   Leave all your assumptions at the door.  Be a student here on EX.  You won't ever regret it.  We promise 
  
     
  
   XXXOOO, Sky 
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About the Author
I'm a 64 year-old flight attendant for a major US airline. Prior to that, I owned an ice cream store and six hot dog carts and put my five kids thru college on hot dog earnings! Prior to THAT, I was Director of International Administration for Domino's Pizza, Inc. I was married to my H.S. sweetheart (dad of my 5 kids) for 17 years. I've been with Jeff for 23 years, but we just finally got married in 2016! Jeff & I live in Cape Meares, OR right on the beach. I'm from Ann Arbor, MI, where many of my kids/relatives still live. My flying base is Washington, DC, where I have a condo that I stay in when I'm between flying trips. My dream is to retire and stay home with Jeff and my two cats, Kenneth & Barbara...not happening soon, though. So I go home whenever I can get a week or more off. I LOVE to meet up with other EXers in the cities where I lay over. I usually blog about what cities I'm laying over in, so let me know if I'm staying near you! I'll buy dinner!! Xxxooo, Sky