Are you on the list?

Now that I'm past a month, I guess it's official! 1/1/2007 for me, day 32. Woohoo! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 32 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 751 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �176 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 17 [B]Mins:[/B] 59 [B]Seconds:[/B] 22

So THIS is what an emotion feels like...

Ah jeez, what a whirlwind. Most days I stay away from this board b/c most days it's been easy as pie to be a big fat quitter. Go figure. 20 years gone, 39 days recovered. I'm just learning to be an adult who doesn't smoke. I don't know what that's like - the last time I was a non smoker I was barely a teenager, barely pubescent. And what did I do with that portion of my life? Sold my soul to the Nic patrol. A walloping eye opener. Mark me with the sign of the 'L', thank you very much. When I smoked, NO ONE out on the street smoked. Now, EVERY bloody person smokes. I look at them in pity. I look at them and think 'I'm so freaking glad I've quit already, it's not something I HAVE to do anymore. I've DONE it. Guilt, get the hell out of my head please and thank you.' So now I'm a quitter there's plenty of time to think. (And how TOTALLY bizarre that I actually notice my surroundings more now, since I'm not perenially busy lighting up and crushing out.) And here be emotions. Leaving the fog of 20 years of pacification, two decades of distraction, er..you don't exactly learn how to handle emotions well being a smoker. When I was about 10 years old I was fervently anti-smoking. I was convinced I'd never smoke, that I was allergic to smoke, it was disgusting, foul, you name it, I didn't want any of it. Mom and Dad smoked, older brother was about to begin. But me? Don't kid yourself. When I was 15, everything sucked. My parents were on the edge of divorce after years of a mad, chaotic home life. I spoke to no one, locked myself in my room and played solitaire. I had no friends from school because I had been bullied forever. But lucky me, I started finding friends from elsewhere, new ideas, new influences. Their contribution? An escape from dealing with the crap emotions and whaddayaknow? Cigarettes. The rush, the hit, the kick, the slap in the face. The high, the blast, the addiction that made me not give a toss about everyone else. Divorce? Who cares, light er up. Bullying? Ya right, I'm cool now, where's the matches? The ability to deal with a single lousy emotion? Gone. So here am I, approaching a 4_ in my stats (holy crap!) No one I know believes I've done it, they're all stunned, shocked, proud. And t

Please say a little prayer

Ah God bless you and Mon. I'm lurking, but I'm feeling. Best to you both. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 38 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 891 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �209 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 18 [B]Seconds:[/B] 3

Chain chain chain

Cheers nonic, here's hoping you have a lovely weekend x [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 39 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 914 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �214.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 8 [B]Mins:[/B] 19 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55

How long before.......

Glad you made it through day three. It really does get easier, and you'll soon come to anticipate those surprises that nip at your ankles when you least expect them. (In the past few days of my own quit, they've actually made me smile.) Like absently reaching into a pocket for the pack that's not been there for weeks, wondering if you should stop to pick up a carton on the way home with your other shopping...each time these moments come and go, you get stronger. Each time you remind yourself 'I no longer smoke' you recharge that internal power supply. You'll have many, many other 'day 3s' but if you expect the surprises and embrace the emotions you soon realise how totally in control you really are. Welcome to your new world. :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 39 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 913 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �214.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 8 [B]Mins:[/B] 14 [B]Seconds:[/B] 50

Chain chain chain

Keep fighting hard, nonic. Tell your thoughts to the page, share a few with the folks here, whatever it takes. This group is its own 'Band of Brothers/Sisters' and we'll win this war too if we keep on supporting each other. x [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 39 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 914 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �214.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 8 [B]Mins:[/B] 15 [B]Seconds:[/B] 16

So THIS is what an emotion feels like...

My goodness, you're a kind lot! Thank you all for the good wishes. It's such a blessing to be in such a fantastically strange place in your life and have such a large group of people out there who understand precisely what you're going through. Epiphany only begins to describe it. My burning thought today is really how very sad it is that so many of us have faced the same sense of 'hiding away' in our lives - that discordant, odd lack of purpose, the big 'Why' that never really finds its 'Because'. And all at 15 years old. Or 13 or 12, hell, at 25, 35. So we pick up that first pack of cigarettes and continue to smoke ourselves senseless, never breaking out of the saccharine bubble of false happiness until we have a nagging cough, or see a loved one die, or watch another advertisement showing a smoker get dragged around by a fishing hook in the lip (in the UK this exists, really staggering, awful, TRUTHFUL stuff). Why were we so lost then? Why are we found now? It's bigger than this, it's a philosophical meditation. Fortunately, I'm really comfortable with introspective 'me time' and I hope every one of you either is already the same or gets to that point. Not sure if I'm talking in circles, but the thoughts are CLEAR and they're MINE, and they're SMOKE FREE. Today is a good day indeed. X [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 39 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 907 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �214.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 7 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 24

So THIS is what an emotion feels like...

Ditto on the thanks. I honestly hope this can do others some good. Took that final patch off at 5 am (after waking up from a snooze in the recliner!) and am now nearly 1/3 of the way to being completely nicotine free. Enter more emotions, heavy duty this time...edgy, agitated, excited, anxious to get this final withdrawal over with. I must admit, though, the 'excessive gas' thread(s) are getting me through this with a smile on my face! :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 41 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 960 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �225.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 21 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49

Think Gas is a side affect?

Sorry I'm replying so late...I couldn't see the topic through the noxious purple cloud following me around. Quantity = constantly. As for quality? Quite probably the Rolls Royce of wind here. Stay clear of London, I may shift your flight off course. It ain't pretty. :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 40 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 932 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �220 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 9 [B]Mins:[/B] 47 [B]Seconds:[/B] 8

Feb 12th Monday's Marvellous Quitters!

Six weeks! Waaaaaaaahoooooooooooooooooo!!!! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 42 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 982 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �231 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 14 [B]Mins:[/B] 17 [B]Seconds:[/B] 51