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Share your quitting journey

Desperate Smoker Turned Ex Smoker

Maki
Member
7 7 132

Smoking has not come to mind what so ever . I hope for you who are just starting your quit that you are taking care of you . Quitting is one of the best things you can do for you and others right now. 

You don't have to run out to buy cigs putting yourself at risk or others of getting sick  . 

Remember how we were as smokers ? 

Guaranteed a desperate smoker will want a puff of yours or to borrow one and that exchange could be putting each other at a higher risk of contracting this virus and spreading it . That may seem trivial or out of porportion or exaggeration to you but is it ? The reality is we all have to work together and find more ways even on our own to minimize spread . Like drinking out of the same cup I hope smokers won't share smokes . 

Love being quit . The ex smoker and non smoker won't have to run out for a puff 20 to 40 times today . 

Forty times a day I was out there smoking before I quit . Kinda makes me sick to think of that now . 

The ex smoker won't have to spend money on them .... money that is much needed to get through this difficult time today , tomorrow , and in the future . 

Not smoking will give us all a better chance to fight this virus should it hit our lungs .

Smoking kills your immune system ... something right now ..... you need to be it's strongest . 

You can cope without smoking . Its worth it . Keep going. Don't go back . Keep moving forward . 

Do you see now how smoking was so stressful ? Life is totally different being an ex . So grateful I am an ex ! 

Elders will tell you the difference it made in their life . We want you to feel that same peace too . We want you to be motivated to stay the course . The community is here to lean on . Reach out , don't smoke . 

Maki 

7 Comments
About the Author
Smoker of 28 years . COPD recipient . My biggest help to quit was reading other successful quitters testimony as well as other quitters who would not give up and kept coming back determined to win . Also , some really hard work and helping others . I’ll have a thirteen years quit June 30 , 2024 . Biggest lesson learned : I learned that the “Just one” lesson is the key to everyone’s quit . Having “ none” not one puff , is the easy way to quit smoking . Post for help if it gets hard and before you have to own up to giving your quit away because if you do your quit can be saved . After the fact starts day one all over .I can’t tell you enough how worth it that is . Quit tools : Made use of my strengths and improved upon my weaknesses . Quit benefits , more time with my family , better quality of life , better self image . How I kept the quit : one day at a time , one step at a time . I told myself like a broken record : “ Don’t smoke ; Do something different “ then literally went and did something different other than smoking “ . Quitting is not complicated .It is really simply one word ( not one puff ever ) or nope , however , it will be the process of self discovery in this journey as you figure out things for yourself that can complicate things . How long will that be ? Well we are all different and we come from different backgrounds and smoked for different reasons so no one can really tell you when it will get easier for you only that it will . Be patient with yourself . Who cares how long it takes anyway because we all came to quit forever . This quit is for life , your life , so embrace it , welcome it , it’s the best thing you will ever do for yourself . The money you save get a bucket list of little rewards and big ones and do them . Change the things you can . Life is worth living . This gets easier , oh my gosh , so much much easier . Give it a season , give it two and you’ll never want to let go of your quit I promise you that . It’s wonderful , absolutely wonderful to be free . Quitting btw was the hardest thing I’ve ever done just like everyone here . I shed buckets of tears for weeks , yelled into a pillow , stuck my head into a cold bucket of water and paced aimlessly in head fog . Was it worth it , every bit of it ! Biggest improvement : , my health , the relationship with my family ( all non smokers thank goodness ) and finances . When I started 2011. I was walking three blocks with the use of inhalers for copd . Latest accomplishment : still on the inhalers no further advancement of copd . June 1 2023. Did my first 10 k . Next goal is my second 10k by the end of 2024 . I’m 68 years years young and I’m an Ex smoker . I was able to take three trips ( out of country ) with my family because I quit smoking . Time I never would have had had I not quit . Money from quitting paid for them . I want to say you are in control , take your power back from cigarettes from vaping or any addiction you might have . Life awaits you , don’t let it pass you by . Make the decision to stop and one day that light will shine upon you and make you a whole new you . Thank you to Quitnet members and Ex members for the support and encouragement to quit and stay quit . That along with my desire never to smoke again has given me a life long successful quit . No turning back , ever .