Today, I celebrate my 13th year of being free from nicotine addiction! In all honesty----I barely remembered it was coming up….and I am on this site almost every day. That’s how little smoking means to me any more….and it can become just as unimportant to you too….if you just persevere.
If it means so little to me, why am I still here? Because I need to be…..
When I got here in November of 2009, I was so SICK OF SMOKING….sick of the social stigma, the COST (!!), the smell, the burden of being a smoker, the constant worry that sooner or later, a major health event would happen. AND sick of “trying” to quit and failing every time.
If I had arrived at this site and found a bunch of doctors or social workers or psychologists who just wanted to talk “at” me about how ridiculous and dangerous smoking was…..I would have spent about 5 minutes on the site and left.
Instead, I found REAL people who were either just quitting like me, quit for a few months or a year and many people who had long term quits. I WAS GRATEFUL TO ALL OF THEM FOR THEIR DIFFERENT INSIGHTS!!!!! This is a community….and it takes all of us….long and short time quits; tough love and huggy people, observers from afar and those who dig right in….it takes ALL of us to make this place a quit community.
So remember---don’t just write your own “paragraph”. Dive in and comment on everyone’s writings. Don’t feel you are too new or too long quit to offer some thoughts…….you never know what touches someone.
I met Bonnie right away. She had quit in the beginning of November 2009 and so was a new quitter with me….and many others who also quit in November of that year. I met @pir8fan who became a great friend outside of EX and quit just a few months after me and then Thomas who quit in March of 2010. I was totally in awe of Dale @JonesCarpeDiem and Giulia @Giulia and Mothergoose and Poppa Jim and all of those who had long quits……WOW…I wanted to “be” them (and now I am). But I enjoyed talking and hearing from everyone…..people who were going through the first quit pangs with me and people just a bit ahead who could say…HANG IN THERE. I wanted to hear what everyone thought….not just one line of thinking. And I also wanted to help others get through their quit…to make the journey successful.
I stay because EX is us and without us……EX dies. I didn’t want someone who has studied addiction telling me how to quit. I wanted people who had quit or were quitting to help me to quit. If that’s what YOU want…..you are at the right place. Listen, learn, TAKE PART!!!!!
And welcome to EX!!!!! We are ALL here for each other.
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