Bump for May Company!
Yesterday was my birthday and, late at night when my son was in bed, I had a couple of White Russians made by your's truly. There are fireworks going off from about a week before the 4th and up to a month after. :eg: Hanging out on the railing outside my apartment with my neighbor, who smokes, and watching fireworks and drinking favorite made me briefly miss a smoke. I told my neighbor that it was one of those times that made one wish you could just have a smoke for old times sake. To my enjoyment, my neighbor said NO right when I was saying that I surely wouldn't, but that it was in memory.
What we as ex-smokers must do is understand that memories can be deceiveing. The pleasant memory of a smoke in a familiar situation is a hundredfold better than the reality of it. If you lit up "for old times's sake," the chance of making it just one more is incredible. People can't develop mind control that powerful!
I guess what I'm tryng to say is that it's natural to have memories that make a pleasant connction to smoking. It's OK to entertain those memories for what they are, the past. It's OK to acknowledge that you WERE a smoker. You can't change the past but you can affect the future, my Dad once told me.
DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE LURE OF THE MEMORY! The reality is pain, headaches, shortness of breath, stink and wheeze.
My neighbor was in full agreement, and wouldn't give me a cig even if I asked for one, which I didn't and won't.
Online Quit Program: $0
Not Smoking: $0
Friends and neighbors that respect and honor your decision to quit smoking: PRICELESS
May the Quit be with us.
carpepax
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 5/16/2006
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 46
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 373
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $466.9
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 6 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 11 [B]Seconds:[/B] 51
