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Share your quitting journey

In two hours, I will begin my 9th year without cigarettes and no regrets

JonesCarpeDiem
1 31 89

On letting it happen

A friend asked me the end of November 2006 if I would quit smoking to influence his older brother to quit. I  agreed to consider it. I spent the 4 1/2 weeks before I quit learning I didn't need to smoke just because I wanted to smoke. There was no conscious plan. I didn't want to quit but I wasn't against it either.

I had no guidance. I let it happen. Again, didn't fight it and I didn't encourage it. I began by telling myself to wait a little longer when I wanted a smoke. At 4 weeks I was down from a pack a day to 5 a day.
During that time, I never stressed about quitting or not being able to smoke and I never denied myself a smoke.

  I didn't set a quit date until the Friday afternoon I slapped $5 on the counter at the convenience store and  decided I was buying my last pack.
   
  The following Monday was New Years Day. I in no way wanted my quit to be tied to a resolution. I had never made resolutions and I had never seen anyone who made one keep it for long.
  I wasn't worried about not having enough smokes to make it to my quit day.
  My only plan was to save one cigarette for the morning after New Years so I would not have to fight off the morning urge for nicotine after a night's sleep. I had my last cigarette as planned. I didn't attach any special significance to it than any other I'd smoked. That was 7:15
   
  I went to the pharmacy about 10am to buy a box of patches. (I felt a little anxious on the drive, especially as I drove by the store where I bought my smokes. I could have easily turned into the parking lot but I didn't. I drove 3 more blocks to the pharmacy and bought a box of patches.)
  I stayed very busy my first two weeks. I was at the friends (the same one who had suggested I quit to influence his older brother to quit) playing guitar 10 hours a day.

When I forgot to wear a patch two days in a row, I had a talk with myself and stopped using the patch.
The second day without the patch, I joined a quit smoking website.

  Many people come bent out of shape, anxious, and on edge. It doesn't have to be that way. I had built up no negative feelings before quitting of what I would be missing or how hard it was going to be. I just let it happen.

I had no work going because of the holidays, so, I had plenty of free time to devote to learning about my quit from the elders on that site and helping others with theirs.

I decided right then that helping others quit was as valuable a quest as any and I've been on this site since August 2008 trying to help others find themselves.

Let me help you connect the dots and be free. 🙂

31 Comments
About the Author
Hello, My name is Dale. I was quit 18 months before joining this site and had participated on another site during that time. I learned a lot there and brought it with me. I joined this site the first week of August 2008. I didn't pressure myself to quit. HOW I QUIT I didn't count, I didn't deny myself to get started. When I considered quitting (at a friends request to influence his brother to quit), I simply told myself to wait a little longer. No denial, nothing painful. After 4 weeks I was down to 5 cigarettes from a pack a day. The strength came from proving to myself, I didn't need to smoke because I normally would have smoked. Simple yes? I bought the patch. I forgot to put one on on the 4th day. I needed it the next day but the following week I forgot two days in a row I put one in my wallet with a promise to myself that I would slap it on and wait an hour rather than smoke. It rode in my wallet my first year.There's nothing keeping any of you from doing this. It doesn't cost a dime. This is about unlearning something you've done for a long time. The nicotine isn't the hard part. Disconnecting from the psychological pull, the memories and connected emotions is. :-) Time is the healer.