No Control

[Christine13]

I have absolutely no control over my smoking, all these years I've been trying to control my addiction.  I have no control when it comes to cigarette addiction.  I cannot have even one!!!  Or I will be back to smoking again.  I don't know if I have just been surface learning all these years on this site with my quits?  I need to internalize that I just can never go back there until it becomes my new way of life.  The path is clear, it is ahead of me.  The coin finally hits the spot!!!

NOT ONE PUFF..............!!!!

[bonniebee]

Do not have any around you, do not have a hidden stash, no way ,you know yourself and having any on hand will be a temptation when you are vulnerable . As long as there is time and distance between oneself and a sickerette that is time enough to write a blog, take deep breaths, eat something, drink something, call a friend, put a straw in your mouth, have a cup of tea and pray for strength !

You have been through a lot Christine and I admire your courageous spirit .

Much love ,

Bonnie Bee

[indingrl]

CONGRATS Christine13 you are a NON SMOKER! Excellent blog of SELF awareness and love to ones SELF to live this DAY only for it is a FACT.... ONE DAY is all WE have to walk in FREEDOM FROM NICOTINE and to TRY to HELP the next suffering nicotine addict in love and tolerance and to LOOK for OUR similarities and to be an encourager to each other and to remember...NOT ONE PUFF OVER ME and  NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF OVER ME.... We is beautiful TEAM... for I too NEED you Christine13 to HELP ME to hope and believe IF you can I can and TOGETHER WE will STAY QUIT TOGETHER NO MATTER WHAT this DAY holds for each one of us! Thank you for MY reminder I cant control it and so I too had to admit I am powerless over nicotine and MY life is unmanageable by MY and I CHOOSE to surrender MY nicotine addiction to MY Lord Jesus. Please take what HELPS and let go of the rest to be HELPFUL is MY only aim thank you....keep on keeping on your doing FANTASTIC! 

[Sootie]

Sorry to state the obvious bu no one can have control over addiction. It is the reason it's called addiction. And it is the number one reason people stay addicted. They think they can control it.....only do it at parties, on weekends, once in awhile..........you cannot control addiction. Whatever your addiction is you have to "QUIT IT" and never, never go back.

Stay  Strong

[freeneasy]

You're preaching to the choir   I hear you. The only way out is through and the only way to stay out is N.O.P.E.

[Giulia]

If the path isn't clear by now, you're gonna need a bigger snow plow.  You have all the answers.  Keep embracing them.

[JACKIE1-25-15]

NOPE no matter what. 

[MarilynH]

You sound super great Christine13 I believe you've got this quit firmly in your grasp stick with N.O.P.E and vigilance no matter what is happening in your life because S.I.N.A.O - Smoking Is Not An Option anymore, humongous caring cyber hug coming from me to you sweet Christine, hang on tight and don't let go of the best gift that you'll ever give yourself which is the gift of LIFE, call anytime my friend. XO 

[YoungAtHeart]

We are addicts.  There is NEVER going to be "just one."  Accept it.

Try to make a list of all the things it would do FOR you?  Do you notice they are all LIES?

Then make a list of all the things it does TO you.  Did you notice how far reaching they are?

Make the right choice!

Nancy

[crazymama_Lori]

for me it finally clicked when I figured out I had two problems going here.  I have a nasty habit that developed into an addiction/dependence on nicotine.  The nicotine is what keeps me coming back.  The cigarette just happens to be what I choose to find it in.  For a lot of years we only thought of smoking as a "bad habit."  We've all heard it from our parents way back in the '50s and '60 when I think everybody in the world smoked, "just remember, don't pick up this HABIT, this dirty filthy HABIT."   And that's all we thought it was.  As science developed and more and more was learned about this thing called nicotine which is actually the natural ingredient in tobacco is what was giving us problems.  Same thing as back in the '20s and '30s, most cough syrups were made from opium.  We didn't know.  and look at the epidemic we have now.  You need to distract yourself in the first few months.  Make a list of to-do things around your house or your yard.  Start a project or take up a hobby.  Start coloring.  Start ripping off some shelving paper, wallpaper, refinish some furniture.  I'm surprised my cupboards survived my first 30 days.  I chistled away at those things for hours, grumbling, but the rush, the intense need to smoke went away.  Take up meditation.  There's loads of videos on YouTube.  the main thing is to distract.  If you need to, redo the tracking of your cigarettes again.  When are you most likely to smoke, where are you smoking, what is making you pick up that cigarette, what can you use in replace of it, chewing gum, snapped a rubberband, stress ball, rolling a coin between your fingers, getting a calming stone (simply a smooth stone that you rub between your fingers).  Let's get creative Christine.  We'll brainstorm with you.  Take a drive and scream your head off if you have to.  Get yourself a walkman and listen to your favorite music.  Just remember cigarettes are not your best friend, they do not take stress away, they will not make life easier.  See SLIPPING AND SLIDING - TALES OF TROUBLE TO LEARN FROM  and /blogs/Giulia-blog/2008/10/12/wise-words-that-helped-me-when-i-first-quit .  Once you come to the realization, and it sounds like you have, just one becomes never enough, you accept that you have a problem with nicotine and can never go back there again and shut that door, that new door will finally open.  You are doing this !!!!

[MichelleDiane]

Christine13 it has been 60 days and I finally was able to say out loud that I am an addict.  Coming to this admission has helped me through today.  Yes, I new smoking was bad and yes I knew I was addicted to the nicotine, but I didn't call it like it was.  I am an addict.  Because of that realization and admission what turned out to be a good day started off being very difficult.  I know there will be ups and downs on this journey, but no more or less than other people.  The difference is that I am an addict, I need different smober behaviors to handle them.  Take if one second at at time if you need to.  Be in the moment and don't project into the future by saying I can never smoke again.  One day at a time will help you.  Give yourself permission to feel upset and then give yourself permission to live.  With you all the way.

Best wishes,

Michelle

[ThePearlWolf]

Never have another.  I've quit so many times it's embarrassing.  On most occasions it lasted for a few months.  A few times, it was under a few weeks.  The longest quit was over eight months.  During all the quits that were over a few months in length, I wasn't even having serious cravings. I just had a small desire to smoke but I eventually would tell myself that I don't even have big cravings anymore so an occasional cigarette isn't going to hurt and each time I reached for one, it would eventually lead to another, until I was smoking again and each time I quit and started back up, I had to fight very hard to keep from smoking more than I had before I quit. 

This time, I know I can't ever let my guard down.  There is no such thing as "just one" or "occasional".  I've known a few people who only smoke occasionally, or only smoke when they can hide it, but I'm not one of those people AND I don't know how those people really feel all the time.  For all I know, they are constantly battling cravings.  Even if they aren't, *I* would be if I allowed myself the occasional smoke.  I would be miserable right up until I was smoking a cig every hour again.  Of course, I would still be miserable after starting again, I just wouldn't be admitting it to myself. 

[Jennifer-Quit]

But you do have control over whether or not you smoke - that is the one thing that you do control.  Best wishes to you Christine!

[elvan]

Christine13  You can do this, Chris...you cannot have one because they travel in packs...think of OldBones-Larry‌ "One step and then another will get you to where you want to be."