The majority of people who we see posting on SSC, and who have shown long-term progress (months, years...) as non-smokers/ex-smokers... have tried to quit before.
But here they are in their second, third, fourth (or greater) attempt to quit... and we now see many of those same people as models for success. I think what we have to keep in perspective is that much of their present success is due to lessons they learned through past mistakes and failures. They have taken those painful experiences and used them to overcome their addictions.
And then there is this; some of us will die of this horrible addiction. Some will never recover. Their lives will serve as examples of how imparitive it is for each of us to do all we can to "denormalize" smoking in the public consciousness and to vanquish it in our own lives.
Most of the people who come to SSC won't stay long. Most won't achieve long-term recovery, this time. But we have to approach every individual with the assumption that they will be successful, long term.
By the time anyone makes the decision to come to SSC, they've experienced the pain of addiction. They are familiar enough with the pain and the fear to want it to end... so they come here in the hope that we can help them face and deal with their addiction.
We all came here for that reason. And we'll have different degrees of success. Some will stay smoke-free for a week, some for a few months, some for a year... and some for the rest of their lives. But whatever success they have... even if it's not life-long this time 'round, it will be encouraging and something to build on.
A failure is only a failure if nothing is learned from it. And if something is learned from it... and applied, it becomes a critical part of a greater success.
Thanks for introducing this, Lainey!! It's something people needed to talk about! :)
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/6/2007
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 36
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 913
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $333
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 22 [B]Mins:[/B] 46 [B]Seconds:[/B] 36
