Seems like a mountain

[champsin97]

The last time I quit I thought it would be last.  I had made it 10 months quit and was really on top of it.  Then an unexpected divorce and before I could blink I was smoking again.  Now, 17 years later,  I am on day 1 of my new quit.  

The whole time during my last quit I was memeber of a support forum.  It really made a huge difference.  I don't know if that website is still active but it looks like thisis going to be my new support group.  On one hand I feel pretty good about my chances because I kinda know what to do.  I have an understanding of what to expect and know what it takes to make it ( at least 10 months).  On the other hand it is so depressing thinking about having to go through all those stages of quiitting again.  I keep thinking that if had just stayed quit back then I would have been quit 18 years now.  My wife quit 4 years ago.  We were supposed to both quit but I didn't.  Now I keep thinking damn had I quit with her I'd be 4 years quit now.  

Well it is what it is.  This where I am now and I have no choice but to do it all again.  It will be hard but I know I can do it and I have confidence that this quit family will be as important as the last one.  So here we go!

[Barbscloud]

@champsin97 Welcome to the Ex and congrats on your first day won. We can't change the past, so don't look back. What's important is that you're making changes for you physical and mental health.  

I quit after 50 years of smoking and many attempts at quitting.  When I found the Ex, learned how to quit for the first time  and how invaluable support was for me on this journey to become an Ex. A big part of quitting is creating new associations to replace smoking.  There's where you plan comes into play.  This link is a great place to learn about tools, cravings and creating those associations.  It's also educating yourself about nicotine addiction plays a big role in a successful quit.

https://www.becomeanex.org/guides/

We're here to support you, so reach out anytime we can help.  Join many of us on taking the Daily Pledge.  It's a great way to stay on track one day at a time.

Stay busy and stay close.

Barb

[Maki]

Look at this as quit mountain.  It is adventure , a challenge and it gets easier to climb because you can breathe , you gained tools to use along the way and the view from every step you take looking back now is amazing . Smoking is further from your mind . Keep climbing the view at the top is worth echoing to every smoker you know . You can quit ! 

[biscuit9]

@champsin97   Better late than never.  I didn't quit when my husband did, back in the day, either.  I wasn't ready, but he was.  He quit again and I still didn't quit.  THIS time, I am quit, just over a year now.  Neither of us are smokers and it feels good, really good.  One of the encouraging phrases, I used to write over and over, during the first weeks of my quit, "You can climb this mountain.  The view from the top is amazing".  I kept this mental vision of climbing to the top of this mountain. Climbing above a craving, then another, each time getting closer to the top.  Of course you can do this.  Of course it is not easy, but a crave won't kill you, and smoking will.  Remind yourself often, you are not giving up anything, you are GAINING everything back that you lost!!!  Look forward to celebrating every win, with you.

[maryfreecig]

Welcome to Ex. Thanks for telling your history of quitting and where you are at now. Day one is a day of reckoning and I definitely hear you about regrets. I had a mighty fine quit at age 25 that went on for 2.5 years. At age 54, now ten years ago, I returned to what was good. One day at a time the quit I lost came back to me, and over all these years, my second chance has turned out to be a gift--an immeasurable one.

I leapt for that second chance and stayed with it even though I had some dark days and struggled to understand my situation. Felt sorry for myself being 54, so old!!! Why had I ruined a stable quit that I loved? And if I had done it then would I do the same? Why couldn't I have been better than I was...? Those were the kind of stressed out thoughts that I had then. No more! And no regrets. Second chances are sweet. Keep going with your decision to take your second chance! One day at a time you can make good on your decision to quit.

[Augustus44]

I know how you feel entirely. I have quit a number of times and gone one year each time. Like an idiot, I smoked a butt on the anniversary of my quit date--and I got hooked again. It's a demon to say the least. 

I am 60 days in right now and I am feeling pretty confident. However, the you look at the long road ahead, it can be pretty discouraging. The trick is, don't think about the long journey, just get through the dy or the moment you are in. I've had three crisis times and they have been tough. On one occasion I was waiting for the police to come after a hit and run on my brand new car. I was pissed, and ironically, I was leaning against a store front wall--a smoker/vape store and I demand near went in about 6 different times. I stayed out of there and after the police, I got out of there as fast as I could. The other times, I got on THE EX and got help from the wonderful people here. Stay in the moment and not the hours, weeks, months, years--that's the right way to go about this--one minute at a time.