Thanksgiving for Having Quit Smoking: Counting My Blessings

[Dr_Hurt]

This Thanksgiving review why you are thankful for having stopped smoking.  The 10 rewards listed below have been related to us by our patients who have re-learned their life without cigarettes. Use this list to help you recall your own tangible rewards and then make your own top 10 list.

1.      I can breathe better and I have more energy.  I can go up a flight of stairs without stopping.

2.      I have better self-esteem – I don’t have to sneak around buildings, or hide from neighbors or co-workers anymore.  I am happier, and I smile more, now.

3.      I don’t have a tobacco odor anymore.  When I get on an elevator, or walk past others, they don’t turn their nose away from me, or hold their breath.

4.      I am saving the money I would have spent on cigarettes for a nice vacation.

5.      My spouse and children are so happy I have stopped smoking.  They tell me how proud they are of me.

6.      I don’t have to interrupt my time with my grandchildren to have a cigarette.  I can be at their birthday parties from beginning to end.

7.      I don’t have to limit where I go or what I do.  I have more freedom to do the things I want to do.  I can sit through a two hour movie and truly concentrate on the movie.

8.      I don’t have to roll the window down in my car when it is freezing outside – and those riding with me aren’t exposed to my secondhand smoke.

9.      I don’t wake in the middle of the night worried that I don’t have enough cigarettes for the morning.

10.     During the holidays, I can show my friends and family that they truly are the most important things in my life –by spending all my time with them, and not leaving the party to smoke.

 
To share more about your smoke-free process and to hear from others, visit our EX Community.

[barbara42]

i agree with Spunkie, so many are loosing the battle to over come smoking because thia site is so un-user friendly

[dawn4]

wow.......................lose your quit over a change in format to a web-site.  We ARE sick!

anyways,  i really liked this particular blog and because of my quit I have even more to be thankful for this year! 

The "funny" part is that i left work early today and spent the evening....rather, seven hours out with my teenaged daughter.  We just got home and  as I'm signing into the website............I comment to my girl how AWESOME it was to walk UP three flights of stairs in the parking garage tonight and NOT be winded -- that in an of itself seems miraculous to me........I was blessed to see on the list!!!

For my friend Kellie and Celticwolf 264 you and your family are in my prayers for healing, for strong lungs and fresh breath.

[Giulia]

Dawn, you've got a 64 day quit going and that's FANTASTIC.  And you're right, no reason whatsoever to lose a quit over a change in a web site.  But the change HAS disrupted the entire flow of what was going on here for a year and a half or so.  And part of what makes a succcessful quit is continuity and a feeling of support security.  That has not been the case with this particular transition I'm sorry to say.

But I am every so thankful for all the quit smoking support groups out there (including this one), because without the first one I attended, I would not have a three and a half year quit going now.  Learning HOW to quit is but one part of the quitting process.  Learning how to STAY smoke free is another.  And I'm grateful that I have learned, thus far, how to maintain my smokeless freedom.  One must be ever vigilent.

My top  10 reasons for counting my smoke free blessings:

1.  My husband doesn't badger me any more about quitting.

2.  I have been able to offer support to others in this process.

3.  I continue to learn from the wisdom of old timers how to maintain my quit.

4.  I've saved an enormous amount of money in the process (especially with the increases that have occurred since I quit).

5.  I have no phlegm first thing in the morning

6.  I don't reek of tobacco smoke.  Something I was totally unaware of when I smoked.

7.  I'm no longer a slave to tobacco.

8.  I don't have to clear my throat all day long.

9.  Smoke no longer burns my eyes.

10.  My throat is no longer dry after smoking all day long.

[Giulia]

And boy do I wish there were a way to edit our material after we've posted it (for typos and mispellings, etc.).  But alas, it seems as thought we can't on this new site.

[succeeding-this-time]

My group of friends have all decided to quit together.  There are 11 of us in all, my husband does not smoke.  We have all tried, some suceeded for as much as three years, only to start back up because the rest of us smoked.  We are all around 50 give or take and are looking at our futures and deciding that we don't want to be dead or disabled.  I really want to be there for my kids.  I have failed so many times.  I pray that this time I will succeed!  That we all do.  We should have a better chance with all of us quitting at the same time, although some are seriously doubting their ability to do so, and I think have already made up thier mind that they can't.

[edith2]

I can for the first time in my life, talk to my family about my smoking.  They all knew that I smoked, it was never talked about.  I can stand in line at a convenience store and snicker under my breath when I hear the person in front of me talk about how they hate the price of cigarettes.  If I get a chance, I tell them about this site.  For the first time in my life, I recently got a chest x-ray and was thrilled to see that my lungs are CLEAR after not smoking for 5+ years.  I'm grateful that I didn't get past the point of no return with them healing.

[astier]

I have been smoke free for 10 days now. I am going home for Thanksgiving and I am nervous. I am supposed to meet friends for drinks, and drinking is a big trigger for me. Also, a good portion of my family smokes and I am worried that I will use the "I'll just have one" excuse. I have been doing it cold turkey with no medicaition and I seem to be doing ok, I still get major cravings but I know they will pass. I just don't know what to do this week, not like I am going to miss out on Thanksgiving with my family just because of smoking.