If I had tried to look that far ahead 400 days ago, I would never have been able to handle everything that has happened in those 400 days. Sometimes, it feels like no time has passed and then it seems more like 400 YEARS than days. I could never have anticipated all that has happened and I could never have adequately prepared myself either. Smoking would not have changed anything, well, that’s a lie, it would have advanced my COPD, made my emphysema worse and my wallet even lighter. I would not have earned the admiration and respect of many people I did not expect to be so incredibly supportive. People who never smoked somehow really stepped up and told me how happy they were, how proud of me they felt. NML lived up to its reputation with my moods swinging back and forth and up and down like a trapeze and people probably getting really tired of me talking about quitting. It was a very big part of my progress. I felt that every milestone I reached should be shared. One of my friends, a smoker, asked me if I ever went to EX any more. I told her that I go there every day. She asked me why and I asked her who she thought supported me when I first quit. I told her that if everyone got to a year and stopped coming, the site would not exist. She thought about that for a minute and then said she never thought of that. I told her to think of what AA would be like if only people who just stopped drinking came to meetings. What about Weight Watchers or any other support group? It’s like an extension of No Man’s Land. I seriously believe that smokers pose the biggest risk to ex-smokers. They have all of their excuses for why they cannot quit, they are “unique” just like I was, just like ALL of us were. Now we are on this journey together and we are here to help each other in any way that we can, to listen, to understand, to just BE there. We are like a pyramid and if one of us falls, the rest have to reposition themselves to remain stable but we each own our OWN quits, we are all responsible to ourselves for how we take care of OUR quits. No one can quit for you and no one can MAKE you smoke. Every person here wishes you the very best and every person here wants you to succeed, this is a family in and of itself and we know each other in ways that our OTHER family members will never know.
To each person here, I extend my hand in my commitment to stay smoke free and in my gratitude for you being here, no matter where you are in your quit, you are more valuable than you could possibly know. Something you say, something you share could be exactly what someone here needs more than you could possibly imagine. I sincerely love each and every one of you!
Have an amazing week, month, year, LIFE!
