Butterfly, thank you for posting this, and Duffis, thank you for writing it. Incredibly well-written. I cringed all the way through reading this because I KNOW that it is truly a perfect description of how I would feel if I gave into one of those stupid junkie thoughts. Reading this definitely strengthened my resolve. Not one puff ever. Ever, ever, ever. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 49 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,499 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $147 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 21 [B]Seconds:[/B] 27

bump [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 10/28/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 479 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 11,989 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1978.27 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 34 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 14 [B]Seconds:[/B] 35

Duffis originally posted this about a year and a half ago and I copied it to my quit diary and hung it on the wall where I worked at the time because I thought it was so good. But like many good posts, this one got lost in the archives and probably hasn't been bumped in over a year (since I can't find it using the search feature) so instead of pressing "next" for the next 2 weeks :p I decided it would be easier to just repost it. I hope everybody reads this. An absolutely fantastic post! Picture Yourself� Picture yourself a second or two after you stub out that quit-breaking cigarette. The one that you just had to have because the craving was so strong you couldn't hold out any longer, when that voice inside you was saying.. "Go on, life sucks, you may as well smoke a cig.. y'know for your nerves.." or the other one.. "you've got this beat now.. you are in control.. you can have one just now and again.. go on have one for old time's sake.." So you bum a cigarette, and smoke it and in 2 and 1/2 minutes, you stub it out. Now what. Your mouth feels like crap. Your lungs are tightening up. You managed to stifle the coughs .. but barely. You began to squint again because the smoke hurt your eyes. and your fingers and clothes smell again. You either want to throw up, grab some mouthwash, take a shower, or have another� maybe buy a pack. But then you realize what you've just done. After all those times when you said you were going to quit, and then when you finally did, and your family and friends were so happy for you - but not exactly over the moon, because after all they've been hopeful before only to see you relapse - all that enthusiasm is now smashed to pieces on the floor. And all the pressure that drove you to grab that cigarette in the first place - it's all still there. Nothing has changed, except now you've added one more problem: you just blew it. And then you realize what you've really done. You had invested days, maybe weeks and months, in this quit. You had made a great decision, one of the few things you really and truly felt proud of in your life, and you just blew it. You just blew the quit that you swore to yourself was the last one. You were so positive, so motivated, and encouraged, you were really on top of it, ahead of th

Great wisdom here. I copied and pasted into my diary...maybe some day I can "pay it forward" too! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/25/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 26 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 530 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $107.12 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 41 [B]Seconds:[/B] 57

Thank you BFS, and I still love you girl. This post was so long and a lot of people asked me why, what motivated me to post this blurb on smoking addiction and losing. My focus at that time was Pete, yes my beautiful bride and friend and lover. She had attempted to quit four times and failed each and every time. I agonized each and every time, yet I could not jump on her, I could only smile and let her know that I was there for her. Today as many of you know, Pete is quit over a year and getting stronger every day with the conviction that this is doable and she is winning the war on addiction. The descriptions in this post is what Pete experienced on her many failures to quit, how she felt when she lost it. Today we are both non smokers and are enjoying the rewards of not smoking 10 fold. We are young again, play a lot, have more fun than the law allows, laugh, giggle, grab ass all over the planet and above all thank the Lord for giving us the will and determination to quit this filthy habit and addiction. To everyone on this site this message is to tell you that quitting is really possible, if you want to. Thanks for reading, thank you for quitting. Duffis [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/13/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 736 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 22,108 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2208 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 154 [B]Hrs:[/B] 20 [B]Mins:[/B] 37 [B]Seconds:[/B] 7

This is a great analogy and can really make you think! Thanks for bringing it back :) Keep Strong, Josie _____________________ The SSC Support Team.