Unhlooked, I totally understand how an early success makes you think that you're "in the clear" but the truth is that your quit is still a baby and you need to act as such. Would you take an infant child into a harmful situation? Sure, perhaps you did it ONCE and nothing bad happened, but that doesn't mean that everytime you will be as fortunate. I'm not saying don't go out with your smoking friends... what I AM saying is that you need to be prepared mentally when you go into battle (and for many including myself, drinking situations are definitely battles!!!) So remember your coping mechanisms. Remember N.O.P.E. Take your list of reasons for quitting along with you and make yourself read them before you smoke. Or take some posts from here with you and make yourself read those before you smoke. Or have the phone number of a friend who supports your quit with you and make yourself call that person before you smoke. Whatever it takes, put barriers in your way so that even if you're a little intoxicated, you can look at what you're about to do and go "WAIT!!!!!!!!!"
I did the same thing you did... on day 5 of my quit, I went to a concert with my smoking roommate and was around smokers all day, and I hardly even thought about smoking... but that didn't stop me from having 3 "slips" later on... one on day 34, one 34 days after that and one 64 days after that... and that was 577 days ago without a single slip since! So I promise you, recovering from "slips" can be done, but you MUST be prepared and do NOT let your guard down!!! Glad you're back up to continue on with your journey.
Crave the Quit!
Pam
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]6/17/2005
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 699
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 17,475
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2,886.87
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 49 [B]Hrs:[/B] 7 [B]Mins:[/B] 55 [B]Seconds:[/B] 47
