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Untitled thoughts

Maki
Member
3 6 68


How many lies did we believe all those years before we faced our denial and made the right decision to quit for ourselves . Smoking was never helpful to us , it was killing us emotionally and physically .

When I looked back , I saw that the lies I believed were indeed lies and I spent years procrastinating quitting , giving excuse after excuse to keep smoking . Why , because saying "  I cant " was easier than saying " I won't do it ". 

Smoking will catch up with you if it hasn't already and you will experience breathlessness , or the cough , or the fear of having a smoking related illness . If not you , then it will be someone you know like me and many here who already have COPD  , atherosclerosis , heart disease or others who have had cancer , or are going through cancer . 

Below are some of the lies I believed were true about my addiction . The honour and the dignity I gave cigarettes is sad . They were my idol , my saviour , my friends !

I wish I could change back the hands of times but I can't ....  all I can do or any of us can do , is move forward . Being quit is so much better than this . We are so much better than this . 

This was my story below . Maybe some of it you can relate to too . I'm grateful that we no longer believe the lies but see the truth . 

Untitled thoughts  ( the capitals are just for emphasis on the words ) 

Smoking soothed our emotions.   ( Really ) I'm doing that just fine without cigarettes . 
Smoking was our SECURITY BLANKET ...(  true , it was , but now we are adults and I'm content and comforted more being smoke free ) 
Smoking was a RELAXANT , ya ( a deadly one ) I dunno bout your brain but my brain won't work if it's foggy or smoky . 

Smoking was an APPETITE SUPPRESSANT, ( Instead of excersise) 
And an APPETITE STIMULANT. ( Instead of moderation ) 

It was a NUMBING cream ( when my feelings were hurt ) 
A BANDAIDE ( to ease the pain it caused ) 
ANESTHETIC to forget it  . ( I deal with it now instead , so I can really forget about it ) 

SMOKING was A CRUTCH to lean on ( but I can stand on both feet now .... no crutch needed ) 
I put it on A PEDESTAL higher than myself . ( Because I felt lower than myself ) 


It was LOVE potion , ( hmmm love ? Bought in a tube , I think not . ) 
The GENIE in a bottle ( the magic pill and cure for everything . ) again , not ! 
I often used it as Bug REPELLENT .. ( to keep the negative out ) . But that took a pack or two and it still came back , now I can do that and it doesn't come back . 


Cigarettes Our FRIEND ? ( or so we thought ) WRONG . They are our enemy ! 


Smoking was A MARRIAGE , ( when instead we should have been spending time married to our spouse ) 
It attended every FAMILY gathering ( nonsmokers in and smokers  out . ) 
It was a STEAK DINNER , ( sad when we couldn't afford one ) but a package of cigarettes cost nearly as much . 
and it was the AFTER DINNER MINT every single meal . 
It was our ENCOURAGER  ( when self esteem was low ) a boost . But reality is we knew a cigarette can't do that . 
So that fed us more DISCOURAGEMENT . 
It was our HOPE  that we would one day quit , that we'd quit holding up the walls in sleet and rain and snow to smoke . 

It was our hope to be free . Our hope to have the will power and strength to quit . 

AND NOW That we ARE!

We see the lies , we faced hundreds of denials and we know the truth . 

Cigarettes are worthless . 

6 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 .