Curvy, Thanks for this thread. You may not realize now how much of an impact it has on others. Heck, you may never know. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and say " Hey everybody, I stumbled for a minute, but I'm not giving up." About 15 yrs ago I quit for 3 whole years. 3 YEARS! I thought I had it licked. I was in control. It only took one to send me back to puffsville. But that doesn't mean we have to stay there. Try this when you light up. Concentrate on the cig. No distractions. Feel every lungful. Watch the ashes burn down. Don't put it in the ashtray. As you concentrate on this smoke think of how each and every puff feels. When you're done, try and identify the benefits of what you just did. I bet you can't find one. I didn't. Most importantly, don't give up on yourself. We can do this! shelle [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 12/24/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -3 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

Good that you came here and posted CURVY. You know, this time of year just stinks. There is so much to buy, so much to do, I feel very overwhelmed with it all. I haven't caved yet, but there have been many instances which I have wanted to. This holiday season is getting to me.....I have no Christmas spirit, can't wait until January 2nd.... that's not like me either. I'm the first one to put up my tree usually, get all of my shopping done. Not this year, so this filthy stupid smoking habit that I'm trying to cope with is ruining my Christmas. GGGRRR it just makes me so mad. 11 days to Christmas... not one gift bought and I'm cooking for 36 people in my house, with 2 small children. I need to get a grip on reality here! Good luck Curvy, you can keep trying, that's the great part about this, everyone on this site totally understands what you are going thru. Lots of luck, Kathy [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/20/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 23 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 709 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $149.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 21 [B]Mins:[/B] 41 [B]Seconds:[/B] 58

Curvyq, I totally understand what you are going through.. I did a similar thing except that I didn't go back to smoking two a day... I was smoking as many as I could.. close to a pack (which was quite a challenge since I was a closet smoker) well except from the girls at work... I took me a good couple of months to get the determination up to try again...I do use the patches (which helps) but you have to have the right mind set.. sometimes I would wake up in the morning and just say hey let's quit today, put a patch on, only to take it off mid morning and have a smoke with a co-worker.. so it is determination... you have a new quit date.. so mentally prepare and I wish you all the best... [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 12/14/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 6 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 102 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $48 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 14 [B]Mins:[/B] 21 [B]Seconds:[/B] 56

Curvey, Just posted this on another thread...but wanted you to see it. Curvey, thank you for coming forward and telling us you smoked. You can still do this. The most important thing to ask yourself right now....do you really deep down inside want to go back to smoking. Personally, I don't think you do, because you are here. Here is what I posted on another thread......: Are we quitting just for today....or are we trying to quit for the rest of our lives. I know it's difficult to think today that I'm quitting smoking for the rest of my life. That's a long time and a huge committement, and may seem overwhelming. But the reality is that our goal is to quit this addiction for life. The way we do this is one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year, one life time at a time...one person at a time. There are stories on the SSC of people that were quit for 5+ years and had just one cig and started smoking again. Although I'm saddened to hear this, I need to hear these stories...I need to know it's a possibility that this could happen so that when I crave a year or five years from now...I am not caught off guard and I will be prepared. We can never let our guard down and ever have one puff. Nicoteen is too addictive. I can't think today about a life time without smoking..it's too overwhelming for me...but I do know I will make it to tomorrow, and then tomorrow I will make the committment for the next day and so on and so on. If I have to do this the rest of my life...then so be it. My motto is: Taking it one day at a time for the rest of my life. Kaiti [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/7/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 36 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 801 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $198 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 5 [B]Mins:[/B] 3 [B]Seconds:[/B] 42

Curvey, You need to figure out what made you pick up that cig and smoke it, then let us all know. Your not a failure...you slipped...you can still do this...get back on that horse...your not that far gone. You are a strong person to quit for as long as you did... Remember, Not One Puff Ever...NOPE!!!!! We are addicts...we can never smoke again...the cigerette corporations would LOVE for us to smoke again, but our health and our bodies are too important...don't undo all the great changes you've accomplished in your body....throw the cigs away, slap on a patch, anything...do it first thing in the morning, before it get's too hard for you!!! Don't let the demon win!!!!!! [IMG]http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q185/kaitilina/200620Smiley20Stop.gif[/IMG] Kaiti [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/7/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 36 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 800 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $198 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 5 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49

we are never safe. once we've locked the front door, it will try the back door, once we lock the back door, it will try the windows - one at a time once we lock all the windows, it will try the fireplace once we block the fireplace, it will try the vent system once we block the vent system, it will get quiet for a while . . . "special delivery, open the door" Get serious. Get tough. Stay strong. Come back soon. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/19/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 24 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 247 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $120 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 50 [B]Seconds:[/B] 14

Ditto QuitMeister, to the 10th degree. How many are you up to today? [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/19/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 26 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 268 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $130 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 11 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 2

:) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/19/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 27 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 279 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $135 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 14 [B]Mins:[/B] 3 [B]Seconds:[/B] 14

Curvy, Jan, and Everyone Else -- I want to say we've ALL been in your shoes, but since I don't know that that's strictly true, I will say that no one has quit more times than I! Um, I wonder if I might inject a spiritual element? God knows, we all love Monica and her wonderful Jewish guilt, which we (okay, I) joke about a lot. I was raised Roman Catholic, and we can teach the Jews a thing or two about guilt! But all joking aside, in strictly spiritual terms, guilt is not a good thing; it's a very evil thing inasmuch as it holds us down and persuades us that we'll never amount to jack. In that sense, guilt is a tool of the devil, who wants us to remain addicted and enslaved. Guilt is a big old black boot on our throat while we are down and out. That is not helpful. We go 60, 90, 120, 900 days without a cigaratte, and then we cave; guilt tells us our quit was worthless, just like we're worthless. Guilt, my dear friends and fellow addicts, is a tool of the addiction: it seeks to keep us imprisoned. Guilt is among our strongest and worst enemies, most to be feared. Some of us are afraid of liquor; some are afraid of anger; some are afraid of whatever trigger du jour sets us off. Me, I've been afraid of all of those things and still am. But there's a far greater danger on our horizon, dear hearts. It's not the booze, it's not the anger, it's not the trigger: it's the threat of guilt (failure personified -- I just made that up) that tells us we're losers and we'll never succeed in this -- or any other -- quit. More heresy from good old pete -- I think it's not going to kill us to smoke again. Some among us know that one puff leads to one pack leads to a return to slavery, but that's not what's going to get us in the end. What's going to get us is the door we unlock with that first forbidden post-quit puff: guilt. (No, not GELT, Monica, so stop salivating!!) Guilt. My dear dudes and dudettes: we can deal with slips, relapses, and complete changes of heart. We do it all the time. Guilt. however, defeats us, which is its goal and purpose. Guilt tells us we failed because at the core of our being, we're failures. Let's expose guilt's lies and deceit for the sake of those who choose/decide/need/want to get just one mor

Thanks, 4MGs -- I hope that really worked for CurvyQ; it sure worked for me. So, Ms. CurvyQ -- how about this: I haven't been "bad," I've been curly when it would have suited me better to be straight. God love Popeye -- I Yam What I Yam. We're all so very glad that you're still here, curvy or straight. peteg