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Share your quitting journey

What will it take for you to quit ?

Maki
Member
4 1 102
‎08-16-2020 11:44 AM

What will it take for you not to go to the store and buy a pack?  What will it take for you to stop and think before you puff ? The only answer I had was to be serious ... dead serious to take the right action and don't smoke no matter what . 

Would it be hard ? I had no doubt it would be . Was I willing to give in . Nope , I was not . No more trying , doing ! 

Each cigarette smoked takes MULTIPLE  actions til the actual first puff is lit .  

One You buy them , unwrapped the binding , then disgaurded the cellophane .

Two You take out the silver or gold lining , then gently take out the first one .

Three Next you reached for a lighter , play with a sec then 

Four Put the cigarette to your lips ,

Five You flick the Bic not once maybe twice or more ,then light . 

Six Then you inhaled your first drag of soot , tar and  smoke and coughed . 

At least six opportunities for you not to take the first puff but you do .The first puff is no mistake . The first puff is planned ! 

The second puff is easier than the first  . Steps one through five you have a chance to change your mind but one leads to two ... a puff is never enough . 

The good news ! 

It can take only ONE action to interfere with a crave and save a quit if you choose to . Don't buy them , don't borrow them , don't beg for one and don't steal . Don't take another puff ever ! Say no ? 

What will you do if the crave becomes that bad ? 

It took guts and courage to repeatedly say five simple words to temptation . I didn't realize I had the courage to do so , I just did it .  No ,I would say ,  I will not smoke . I repeated them like a broken record . 

It was followed by  " I will do something different " Sometimes that was by cryiing all day , or punching a pillow while screaming at addiction , or playing games til the wee hours of the morning or staying on my support site ALL day . Walking the mall , buying a pack , but repeatedly never opening them and throwing it away or opening it and dousing the whole bunch of  them in water . Best three packs I ever burnt up were doused in water .

 Cleaning of course is a staple distraction for most of us , but what else would help you when things get bad ?

I like to call them thought interference aides .

When you are out of control and want to relieve that crave with a cigarette ask yourself what can you do instead of . 

Always remember you can post before you smoke if you have your phone or in your home . Put pride aside .  I changed my attitude about reaching out to the community when I struggled.  I quit seeing it as weakness and began seeing it as strength and willingness to do something even if it was uncomfortable in order to succeed . Allow others to help , it's a win win win ,  because what you believe maybe is your weakness may give others strength knowing their not alone . 

I remember reaching out a lot that first six months ! I could have felt embarrassed , but I wanted and needed to quit and if I felt embarrassed then oh well I thought . I soon learned there were others just like me . I don't regret asking for help to recover , it helped me forward  and the people today who helped me are still remembered as a special part of my journey . 

It took changing my thoughts , taking charge and staying away from smoking even when those craves crashed with brutal force .  I had to be the wall of strength that prevented the thought of smoking from overflowing and taking my quit with it and use the community as my lighthouse to keep safe .  That light never went out. It was always there for me and it will always be there for you too . 

What kind of thinking will it take for you to change to keep your quit ? What will you do differently or have you done differently ? 

1 Comment
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 .