Had some lapses
I'm a 40 year old female and after having been a chronic smoker for over 20 years , I have quit on 24/04/2021.... I had a few slips .....smoked thrice till date starting from my quit date...feel awful about it.... I had decided to not smoke even a single puff but I slipped....my bigger goal is to remain quit for about a year and become a smoking deaddiction coach....but as i slip now and then i feel bad and scared i wont be able to reach my goal and fulfill my dreams....need some encouragement badly....
A commendable choice of career. Why not read our stories and learn from real life experiences? We each have different stories and different approaches. We all start with a desire or wish to quit, but we all have to have the fear of change banished and the hope of being a non-smoker take its place. We are human and get in our comfort zones so change is not always easy.
To me the first step is to find the idea and then expand from there.
I found a quit site and the BELIEF that perhaps that I could quit too. Seeing others doing it, gave me HOPE.
It was easier than I could have imagined..
When you WANT something and KNOW that it is better, it should not be hard to take steps to achieve it.
When you see that smoking never did anything for us......
When you realize that you are an addict....(thankfully a legal one)
When you realize that you were drugged , and then bought into the lies that kept you hooked and prisoner......
When you realize that the only thing you enjoyed about smoking was the relief when we took that hit......
When you realize that the drug itself creates the cycle and that we need to find the strength within us to stop
Just say enough!
Stop fearing.
We can quit when we WANT to and BELiEVE that we can.
Embrace this journey. It is the best one in your life. Embrace the path the freedom and celebrate the new confidence in yourself.
Hi Happiness....I really really want to help others overcome this deadly voice of smoking....there are so many pertinent points u made here .....yes I was sold a pack ov lies and that has kept me in this vicious cycle which I no longer need....thank u so much for your encouraging words I needed this today....thanks for giving me the hope....I see lots of people sharing stories about how they've quit and stayed that way for years ....this gives me lots of hope and encouragement that its not entirely impossible and one day I'll share my story here of the number of days or years I've stayed quit and how my dreams have come true....cheerio!
One day at a time, practice N>O>P>E and practice by supporting other right here. When people join for support, they also feel a little more accountable and do start to believe that change is possible. Many of us thought we would die as smokers, resigned to the fact. When we reallze their is a choice, that we are stronger than we think and even than quitting can me easier than we feared. The new acronym for FEAR is Forget Excuses/Embrace the Future.
That's a really helpful acronym FEAR....yes I'll try supporting others here as you have advised...it will definitely make me feel I'm not alone and that change is possible....thanks so much for the reminder