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Give and get support around quitting

What makes quitting so difficult?

Simple answer to that one, it's legal. We can buy it everywhere. The only restrictions we have on buying cigarettes is age. At first the legal age was 16, then it bounced around along with the legal drinking age. Legislature feels that when you are 21, you are more responsible, more mature. Doesn't take into consideration that we're impulsive and the list goes on.

Why does staying quit for some so difficult? Somehow, somewhere you have maintained an emotional tie with smoking. Some are still romanticing it, feel like they're missing out on something, making it to be bigger than it is. Just like the old saying, you can't go home again. What you perceived was such a calming thing, a stress reliever, turns out to just simply taste awful, burns your throat and makes you dizzy. Okay, sure, that took care of what was ailing you, now, didn't it?

Let's face it here, folks. Yes, you're going to think about smoking from time to time. It doesn't just simply go away after a year, six months, 200 days. It lingers in the background. Think of how many years you smoked. You grabbed those things from 15 to 30 to 40 to 60 times a day. For some it may be even more. You did that repetitive motion over and over again for 15 to 50 some years. Of course, you're going to be thinking about smoking from time to time. It's just not that nawing need any longer. It's just a thought that pops in to remind you that yes, you're still vulnerable.

We taught ourselves throughout the years to use that to cope with life. People who never drank or smoked in their lives used other coping techniques to deal with life. That's all that it really is after you're over the physical aspect of quitting; teaching yourself how to deal with life without those cigarettes. No one can answer that equation for you because we all have different lives. We live in different continents, different states. We're unique and each of our quits are unique. Only you can answer what you can do to make your quit successful, make your quit lasting.

In my case, once I came to the acceptance that smoking will always be with me, it's always going to be in the back of my mind, it's going to show up once in a while especially during the times when I used it the most, the most important thing is I DON'T ACT ON IT. I don't run to the store, I don't bum one off the person walking down the street, I don't go to the gas station because life is simply not treating me right. I say to myself, yes, I told myself that smoking was going to make this all better, relax me, comfort me; if I want to stay quit and never smoke again, what am I going to do to fix this, make it better, calm myself. Sure, I can leave my house right now, travel about three blocks and buy a pack this very minute. But what stops me is that's not part of who I am anymore. That's  /blogs/crazymama_Lori-blog/2017/03/10/just-something-i-used-to-do ................

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3 Replies
elvan
Member

It is an addiction and recovery from any addiction is a journey, it is not a event...you are right, we smoked over and over and over again for however much time we smoked and there is a habit factor in there along with the addiction.  I think once we accept that smoking really did NOT do anything FOR us...we can go forward and not be constantly fighting, we can accept that those memories will keep coming.  We don't have to act on them...there certainly was nothing romantic about smoking...it smelled, it caused our skin and our lungs to deteriorate...it never fixed ANYTHING.

Great blog reminding all of us no matter where we are in our quits.

Ellen

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MichelleDiane
Member

Older blog, but current and same message.  Smoking would not have done anything for me today.  It wouldn't help me, but it definitely could hurt me.  I enjoyed reading it  crazymama_Lori.  I am home from work now and grateful that I did not act on my anxiety.  I am going to cuddle my dog now because that is good for me

-Michelle