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Share your quitting journey

For starters there are so many questions .

Maki
Member
4 6 139
‎07-19-2020 12:16 PM

Will I get my laughter back ; my fun ? Will I feel myself again ? Will I enjoy my smoking friends and my non smoking friends the same ?

Will I fill the void ? How will I fill the void ? When will the void be filled ? Forever seems scary ! 

Will becoming an Ex smoker make me a sad old maid and party pooper ; an outcast , a hermit ? Will it get better or at the least easier ? Will the NRT work ? Is it better to use an NRT or go cold turkey ? Will vaping help ? Just how bad is vaping ? 
Is it normal to be scared ? Normal to be constantly think about smoking ? Normal to want to give up . Normal after the "three week breaks a habit " theory we've always believed in ? What if I can't do three days ? Or One ? How bout cutting down ?Is that ok ?  Is it normal ? I'm looking for excuses to smoke and trying to cover it up . Maybe I'll be a closet smoker . Is that normal ? Normal for my mind to feel foggy , normal to be constipated  , have acid reflux , normal to have anxiety , be angry , hungry , lonely and do flipping tired ? Is it normal to be crying all the time ? Am I losing it ? 
When will it get better ?
These are all questions new members might be asking and I'm sure tons more .

I asked these same questions .
What will I do without a cigarette in my hand , what will I do in a crisis , what will I say to my family and friends , will I tell them at all , what do I , what do I , what if , what if , what if .....what if this and that and the other happens ?  What if I fail ? What if I win ? 

What if I go crazy !

Can I have just one ? Is one ok ? One puff ? Just one ?  Am I a smoker if I have just one ? 

The answer is .... you will get through all of this while you are quitting . It will be easier if you don't smoke . How many times you will quit is up to you . It's your quit. You are in the drivers seat . If you need some directions ask ex smokers who have well travelled the road .  If you need support ask anyone here . Everyone wants to help . Also , give back . Your journey matters and makes a difference for all of us and for those to come .  We are in it together . What you learn from each quit is individual. Learn the first quit or learn from the tenth , but you will learn at some point that to be quit you can't smoke . 
Everything you are going through or will be going through is normal and you are normal .

You are right where you are suppose to be but be sure you are always moving forward and always practising your freedom to choose not to smoke , over smoking and to be able to do something different .
When will it get better ?  It has already .  Day one has already begun the healing . It's already getting better . Now make every day count not in numbers but in giving , helping, encouraging , inspiring , in gratefulness , sharing , caring , smiling and loving your quit . 

Maki 9+years ODAAT 

6 Comments
About the Author
Smoker of 28 years . COPD recipient . My biggest help to quit was to read other successful quitters testimony . I’ll have a thirteen years quit June 30 , 2024 . Biggest lesson learned : I learned the “Just one” lesson . You can never have just one .It is the the key to everyone’s quit . Having “ none” is the easy way to quit smoking . 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 , nope is it , however it will be the process of self discovery for you to find that out for yourself . How long will that be ? Up to you . 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 .