Stories & experiences

Is there anything that you might have wished you could do AveryT but haven't gotten around to? Having a new hobby to focus on, taking part in a community or learning a new instrument? My hubby just took up a new language, Mandarin. Learning, I have learned raises our dopamine or feel good chemical that our bodies produced with nicotine stimuli.

I gather you just joined today. Have you tried a forum such as this before? Reading and relating to others on this journey may be of some help and assurance to you. Learning the mindset and truly embracing this journey may give you the peace of mind that you seek. You may feel lost at some points along the way, but you are never alone. I hope you read and find some comfort and guidance. You can do this if you just stay positive and remember the NOPE mantra, Not One Puff Ever, because we know there is no such thing as having just one. They are like Lay's potato chips. I am sure many here remember the advertisement....you can't have just one.....

Thank you so much, Happiness (#love!). I’ve never been part of a smoking forum before, and just by reading other peoples stories, I realise this could prove to be a valuable resource. I know that addiction of any sort likes to isolate, and reaching out clearly helps break this invisible chain.

I also believe that positive action helps the overall process of transformation. Hence I’ve gone back to school last Sept, studying Visual Arts at a degree level. It’s exciting and fulfilling, keeps me busy... and only one other student smokes. But she’s much younger than me, and I’m standing there next to this young girl feeling like a huge case of arrested development. Have quit twice in September, but now keep postponing Quit Day because I don’t seem to be able to string a couple of free days together that I usually need for detox. So thinking 1 Jan 20120, although heart sinks at the thought of smoking for another month, spending my student loan on this s**t, etc.

You know, if I was talking to myself, I’d be the first one to tell her, ‘Procrastination is the worst. Just quit this weekend, get it over and done with, let go and move on.’ Perhaps I ought to give Mandarin a go?

Thank you so much, Happiness (#love!). I’ve never been part of a smoking forum before, and just by reading other peoples stories, I realise this could prove to be a valuable resource. I know that addiction of any sort likes to isolate, and reaching out clearly helps break this invisible chain.

I also believe that positive action helps the overall process of transformation. Hence I’ve gone back to school last Sept, studying Visual Arts at a degree level. It’s exciting and fulfilling, keeps me busy... and only one other student smokes. But she’s much younger than me, and I’m standing there next to this young girl feeling like a huge case of arrested development. Have quit twice in September, but now keep postponing Quit Day because I don’t seem to be able to string a couple of free days together that I usually need for detox. So thinking 1 Jan 20120, although heart sinks at the thought of smoking for another month, spending my student loan on this s**t, etc.

You know, if I was talking to myself, I’d be the first one to tell her, ‘Procrastination is the worst. Just quit this weekend, get it over and done with, let go and move on.’ Perhaps I ought to give Mandarin a go?

Lol. I am not sure that Mandarin would help. Nicotine in any language is just as vile.

I posted a piece called "If you've Givin up Givin Up Try This!" which I call my backwards quit. I was already quit and trying to help someone here that was having a difficult time. I still have no feed back on it but would love to know if you find it of help. Basically you learn to want to quit by making the smoking less enjoyable. When you retrain your mind and thought processes to accept the journey rather than fear it, realize that nicotine creates the craving that we take such pleasure in alieving, and learn to brush a craving off rather than debate with it......all great steps in freeing yourself.

Fear immobilizes you. Negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. Truly wanting to quit and embracing the idea of being a non-smoker will go a long way in lessening the cravings and their intensity. You will not crave what you do not want. Learn what nicotine did to you, taste it, smell it...resent the cost , the health it steals and the time it takes to do. Smoke anytime you want, but do it standing up, no TV, no radio, no distractions.....just you and it.

I have also posted a link to Allen Carr's free book on-line, find my piece with his name in the title. (Click on my name right here to get started).

We can give you hints and tips and support, but only you can act on them. We believe anyone can quit smoking . Now, you believe.

Oh, look - I’ve managed to post the same old thing twice. How very appropriate of me.:) Thank you for taking the trouble to write (I know this is a forum, here for everyone, but I’m still going to take your post and run with it and call it mine). Everything you say resonates. Most of it I already know, yet am still trying to feed both wolves. This results in a conflict only I can resolve, I know.

I will go and read your other posts now. Just out of interest, what are your thoughts on setting a quit date?

Hi AveryT. A very very long time ago I also studied at University level in the Arts too, and we were taught many things of which were of great help in our lives, a major one for me was in lateral thinking, and gives you a fresh approach to life or art and its twists and turns. The reality is that any form of Nicotine is harmful, and no matter what life dishes up to us, we can always find an excuse for starting to smoke again.

If you recognize you have the power to accept help when it is needed without destroying your precious self in the meantime. then you will be able to quit without having another puff. If you can recognise that the cigarette is not the support that you need if you are going through any kind of stress then you have a good chance of succeeding this time around.

Your quit day should reflect your own schedule, and should be just part of the plan that you devise, but a Quit day is crucial so work out your plan today and set that Quit day. Enjoy your studies without thinking of the cost involved. You can choose loads of rewards to give yourself along the way.

We are procrastinators by nature. I am a big one....lol. I set the date for two weeks as advised, but quit on my 4th day. I do not like to wade in inch by inch, but instead will dive, given a choice. Everyone is different of course. Only you knows you and my outline in my post i speak of gives you control. When you truly want to quit there should not be too much of a problem. Some people have been told to quit or else and that makes it difficult because they idolize the cigarette and resent the control over their own lives. So I try to get people to embrace the journey rather than fear it. Resent the time, money and see how nicotine controlled you far more than you ever realized. When no one says you can't have a smoke, you can think but I'll show them i don't need it.... I can put it off. When you realize that you can do this it becomes a self challenge and a goal for a better lifestyle.

Two weeks is generally the quit date ideal but you can quit earlier if you are into it. Meanwhile read and learn and above all desire to be smoke free. Have you heard of anyone ever regretting it?

Love the last line of your first post! That is some inspirational determination right there👌

Thanks, TryingTK... alas, I have marked myself with my own words, and - since it is not 2020 yet - went and picked up again, for no good reason I can think of. Did feel awful for a few days (there’s no remorse like smoker’s remorse), then decided to put this latest failure to stay launched down to experience, and just go ahead and pick another, perhaps more realistic, Quit Date. There’s too much going on at the moment - the usual end of term overload, holiday comings & goings, so January 1st it is.

Meanwhile, I've ordered a few books to read - I do find it much easier to negotiate the initial void if my mind is engaged and less likely to flutter back to the “safety” of past habits and obsession. Talking of which, I came across a book called “40-Day Companion to Quitting Smoking” by J. F. Hunter, and bought it on a whim. It’s just what I need: 40 (41, actually) daily readings based on neuroscience and, I believe, universal spiritual principles, specifically created to help a smoker who's just quit or is thinking about quitting, or maybe an ex-smoker going through a wobbly period. The idea is to not smoke for 40 days, and keep your mind occupied with daily thoughts & activities whilst letting the brain set up new habits and neural pathways in peace. Here’s an excerpt:

"In his revolutionary book, Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory, the great late Canadian neuropsychologist Donald O. Hebb famously stated that neurons that fire together wire together.

Roughly translated, this means the longer we practise any behaviour, the bigger and stronger the related neural network becomes. Establishing a neural network may feel like hard work at the beginning, but the scientific evidence guarantees that this new grid of neural pathways will eventually run itself, with little or no need of our conscious assistance – providing we stick to practising the behaviour that supports its development and growth on a daily basis.

Isn’t it reassuring to know that, no matter how tough or easy you are finding all this right now, your brain is busy building a bridge back to life as a happy healthy non-smoker?

Give change a chance. It’s all that’s required from you today.”

Anyway... I’m feeling hopeful and can’t wait to give it a go. Will update.