Back in the ring for another swing...

[Fish_Whisperer]

Thank you!!

Plankspanker, I like heroic women too! LOL Congrats on your quit! That's great!

Kev: Give up sex? (Jeez....Then I really WILL be suicidal!) LOL! Your wife's a babe... (You must have some incredibly thick beer goggles!) LOL!

AlmityWife, thank you. I'm so sorry that your father died so early in your life. I'm glad your mum was able to quit.

Here was my first test: I went out to the Jeep last night, hunting around for my cellphone charger, and found in the seatback pocket, two packs of cigarettes. I nearly wept.... Here I've smoked my "last cigarette," and right on the heels of that, I find two unopened packs! After thinking about it for a few minutes, I went upstairs to the kitchen, opened up both packs of cigarettes, and then....

....filled both packs with water, crushed them, and tossed them in the trash bin.

I am done with this addiction.

 

[El Orans]

Good luck!

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Thanks, El Orans! So far, so good! I already smell a lot better.

 

[BabyDuck]

good for you about the found packs, frank. i'd have taken it as a sign that god really wanted me to support the poor tobacco farmers.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

LOL! The thought crossed my mind, BabyDuck! I said to myself, "Frank, if you do this, after already telling everyone you're quitting, you are lower than the dog's azz." Besides, it felt very vindictive and good to ruin those cigarettes.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Don't be surprised if, in a few days, your brain changes tactics on you. When it becomes apparent that your willpower can overcome your desire for nicotine, rather than trying to say "I need a cigarette" your brain will try lying and subterfuge - you may have thoughts that go something like this... "You should have a cigarette now... it's the right thing to do. If you don't have a cigarette you're a bad boy."
Be ready for it - defeat it.
Rick
(last cigarette 31 October 1987; last nicotine 31 October 1988; last "nic fit" a couple years ago)
(I should also mention that I had tried to quit unsuccessfully several times before over the years)

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Thank you, Uncle Ricky! Last time I quit, I went a week with no problem, and then bought a pack on impulse. Crazy and stupid...

The other thing is, when I've blown it in the past and had a cigarette, even though I'd been craving one, when I finally lit it, it tasted AWFUL! I didn't really want it after all, and it made me feel so dirty and guilty, but of all the stupid, crazy, incomprehensible things, when I'd stubbed it out, washed the odor off my hands, and brushed my teeth, it wasn't long before it started knocking again... Good grief...

 

[Divin-D]

Frank,

Stick with it man! I smoked for the 6 years I was in the Navy and after I got out I continued for about a year. I had been limiting myself during that year and had been really considering quitting, just never got around to it. Then one day a miracle happened. I got the worse head and chest cold that I had ever had. For three days it was all that I could do to breathe. I had to put my face in the steam from the vaporizer to be able to get a decent breath, so I didn't even think about having a smoke during those three days.

After I got over the cold I said to myself, "If you can go three days without smoking, you can go the rest of your life". That's when I finally convinced myself that I was done. I wasn't quitting smoking, I had already quit. I wasn't ever going to start again.
This wasn't easy, as my wife (now ex) smoked more than I ever had. I put all of my willpower into the fact that I was no longer a smoker.

A few weeks went by, and my body quit wanting to smoke, but just like Rick said, my mind tried to play tricks on me. I fought back by making a conscious effort to change my routines and avoid the activities that I associated with smoking for a while. It was a struggle, but I have not smoked since Feb 1990. You CAN do this!

Make it happen Bro,

Dave

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Thanks, Dave! Congratulations to you. I'm sluggin' it out, but I'm already breathing a little easier.

 

[Kayla]

Think of how many more dive destinations you can visit in the years that you just gave yourself back! GOOD LUCK!!! My grandpa quit a year ago after we told him that it was them or us... Went cold turkey, just celebrated a year.

Were all here for ya!!! Good luck!!!

K