The Half Year Mark
183 days smoke free for me today. For those in the early days of this quit journey, keep strong and keep your guard up against the little voice of addiction. While I could be calling this the 6 month mark, I prefer to refer to it as the half year mark, because that's more appropriate for the stage I am at. I am not at the end of the journey - still have goals to aim for and challenges to overcome. But I think I am proof that anyone can quit. I've gone cold turkey with this website and the people on it as my only support. I haven't had a single slip up, but it was a struggle in the beginning - the first 60 days. I still think about having a smoke everyday, which is why I say to everyone how important it is to keep the guard up. I don't intend to become one of those people that quit for 6 months or 2 years and then fall back into it because of some lame excuse or weakness of will.
haha Mickey, I am here with you. 6 months , wow.The cravings for me are but a slight whisper and becoming less frequent. Looking back I know now that I was ready when I made the decision.
To me that was the main thing , that I could say to myself "I am ready to quit smoking" and then a bit of determination plus allowing me to pat myself on the back occasionally.
I now know I will never , ever smoke again and I am proud of that.
haha Mickey, I am here with you. 6 months , wow.The cravings for me are but a slight whisper and becoming less frequent. Looking back I know now that I was ready when I made the decision.
To me that was the main thing , that I could say to myself "I am ready to quit smoking" and then a bit of determination plus allowing me to pat myself on the back occasionally.
I now know I will never , ever smoke again and I am proud of that.
Congratulations on coming this far MickeyJ! I find your honesty and perceptiveness very impressive. We must be on a similar wavelength (even though I don't have a young family). I'm nearly at 5 months now... and I also think about smoking every day. I think it's just a little voice that will always be at the back of my mind -- but I now simply choose to ignore it. You're past 6 months, which is fantastic. I, however, prefer to think of quitting in terms of the future: this is for the rest of our lives -- a fresh, clean start with no turning back.
Thank you all for your posts warning me that I must keep up my guard. I went cold turkey and found the first 10 days very hard. The last 7 have been easier. It is reassuring to know that it is not just for me that the thoughts of smoking if not the strong cravings continue, and encouraging to read that with preserverance I can make it like you guys. Today, I had what I described to my doctor as an orgasm in my inner right ear. After checking this out with an ear specialist, it appears this means the blood circulation inside my ear has improved through quitting the fags causing the unusual sensation. An early positive sign of health improvement. I hope to experience more benefits as I approach the 6 months you have achieved.