Bear, I thought you were changing your image. I was just going to grin and bare it!! I think I got the message when I could no longer climb 18 stairs without being winded and my heart racing. I can climb those stairs now and I think about that every time I think about smoking. I don't want one puff ever again. [color=Blue]BLUE CLOUD[/color] [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/4/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 35 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 700 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $140.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 16 [B]Mins:[/B] 56 [B]Seconds:[/B] 2

Gr8 thread Bear :) For me to quit anything I really have to truly want it in my heart. Fear can also be a gr8 motivater. Fear of going to jail from dui's got me to thinking, lol & also I was sick & tired of living the way I was living. As far as smoking goes, the fear of dying from a disease caused by the disease of addiction helps. And also the idea of throat cancer is not appealing to me nor is having a tube connected to my throat to breathe & talk out of, OR walking around with oxygen b/c I can't breathe on my own. There's plenty of fears that help to keep me motivated but despite the fears, if I don't want it in my heart & head, then it's just not gonna happen. Today I really want it. Even though my goal is to stay quit and remain a non-smoker till the day I die, I'm not going for the extreme all or nothing aproach to anything in my life anymore. I want balance & I usually find a way of getting what I want, lol. I believe that if I can have a healthy balance in the areas of my life that are important to "me", then I will also have a better balance in the "dealing with my feelings" part of me. My feelings are not me. Feelings come and go through us and are always temporary. But even though I know this to be a fact, I still have a very hard time (sometimes) dealing with certain feelings/emotions. I was not raised in an emotionally healthy enviornment. My Mother did her best but my "feelings/emotions" were not embraced. Therefore I grew up thinking that my feelings didn't matter and I had to take care of hers and others feelings in this life. So somethings are harder to learn to deal with & change than other things. And everybody's different b/c nobody see's life exactly the way another person does. But that's what makes life so interesting lol. We are all unique & we are all special :) And we deserve to be happy & live a long & healthy life. BUT we have to want it or it just won't happen. And sometimes b/c of different reasons and experiences something's don't come as easily to one and they do to another. If we all, including myself had more compassion & love to give & less fears & greed, I think the world would be a better place to live in. Kiwi has mentioned a few times latey how discouraging this world can be. And we don't have to look hard or far to see what this world has come to. With the stupid war over greed & money and maybe some good reasons (although it makes no sense that we kill each other to save people from getting killed). I know that's not a topic for this room, lol. And I'm sure there's good & bad points as in everything. However at times in my life I've been able to look through my eyes & see many beautiful things about life. Here in Colorado the sky is so close u can almost reach out and touch it! It's absolutly breath taking. Yesterday after the storm I pulled over into a church parking lot to take pic's of the rainbow. It was so bright and vibrant. It's times like that when I know in my heart that this world is the way we decide to look at it. It's like anything else, we all have a choice in how we choose to think. Our thinking determines how we view people places and things...life. Which is going to determine how successful our life will be in the areas of health, happiness & love. At least that's the way I SEE it :) That's why I'm striving for more balance in my life. B/c the extremes of being negative or positive can be very weighing on one's heart & health. I have found balance in some areas of my life & wow those areas feel really gr8 & serene. But boy I'd like to get a hold of more balance over my emotions. I already have came a looooong way in my 11yrs of sobriety. But I still have a long way I can go & will continue to go until I stop going, lol. I'm just going and going and going & typing & typing & typing cuz I have to do something with my hands LOL and it keeps the junkie quiet when I'm thinking positive and sharing my experiences & life in hopes that in some way it might help someone like so many of u have helped me. We're all in this situation (quitting smoking) together. It's just a small thing in life that can make the big picture change in many ways and bring us more happiness. Smoking is only a symptom, it's the the problem. Our minds & the way we choose to see things and feel things are our/my problem. So until I really WANT to change my way of thinking and seeing things, it's not going to happen. Today I'm doing gr8, seeing positively, feeling good about myself & I have hope :) For me hope is everything and to me hope and faith are one in the same. The night before last I wasn't 'feeling" much hope or faith. I was seeing things negatively and felt very hopeless and even through praying, posting, calling my friends, crying, etc, nothing was pulling me up the hill. Sometimes our best isn't the same as the best of another person b/c we all are differnt but again SPECIAL :) Ok, enough of this novel, lol. I wonder how many people were feeling a crave when they started to read this. I know that in the time it's taken me to type all this, I've had no craves since I started nor do I have one now. Life seems to orbit around "time" doesn't it? Time on our meters, appt. times, lifetime, bedtime, alarm times, morning time, afternoon time, dinner time, what the heck. Time, time, time. I guess I'm a rebel when it comes to time, lol, I'm late a lot. We all do things "in our own time" :) Sometimes I think if there were no clocks or anyway to keep track of time, we all might be a little more relaxed. Not always in a hurry, speeding around like lunatic's (no offense Ms. Luna, lol, you seem to be very sane!) Not to change the subject like I seem to do so well but whenever I look at Luna's picture I see a very intelligent woman who appears to have peace within herself. It's always very comforting to me to look at her picture. Oh wow, ok I'm going to start a new thread about this! LOL. See ya there :) LMAO Just breathe......... [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/9/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 29 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 580 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $139.20 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 21 [B]Mins:[/B] 20 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55

Since Day 1 of this quit I knew that if I had one cigarette I would be right back to a pack a day in no time. I never want to be a smoker again and so I don't even entertain the thought. The longer you go the easier it gets. It seems absurd to smoke now and I never thought I'd be able to say that! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]8/5/2004 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 1097 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 21,940 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $4,936.50 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 83 [B]Hrs:[/B] 18 [B]Mins:[/B] 30 [B]Seconds:[/B] 22

Unhooked said it very well! You stay a non-smoker by not smoking. It simply can't be an option. You can't keep cigarettes, ashtrays, or lighters "just in case" you might really need them one day, because if you even think this way, you will definitely find a need for them before long. It happened to me after a full one year quit. For the entire year I thought about those cigarettes I had stashed away. Had they not been there, I don't think I would have taken the trouble to buy them, and I would have stayed quit. This quit I cleared out any trace of smoking, and I tell myself that I do not smoke whenever I think about it. It is definitely a mindset. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/6/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 123 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,920 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $738.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 16 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 24 [B]Seconds:[/B] 40

Wicked IS a word that may have come to mind Bear but I can't say it's the one that did! And I'm not allowed to write it here... :p Gen [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/28/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 132 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,112 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �660.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 17 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 44 [B]Seconds:[/B] 51

Good question, Bear ( I like the not so bare bear also). I have kept this quit by staying quit! Sounds silly, I know, but it has finally sunk in for me that non-smokers don't smoke. I don't smoke so I don't smoke. Not once in awhile, not when I'm stressed out, not to get away, not to belong. I don't smoke. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]5/13/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 86 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,720 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $946.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 8 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 30 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

I kept failing with the patch (peel it off and go buy a pack). Chantix and taking a pill made it easier. It helped kill the cravings (even tho there was a ton of work left for me to do). For me it was this new aid that became available and pressing poor health. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/16/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 203 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,060 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $568.40 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 19 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [B]Mins:[/B] 1 [B]Seconds:[/B] 7

For me the quit was hard, but to stay smoke free i just knew that i could not and would not smoke again, it was a game i played in my head ( and i Won ) :):) Tresa [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]8/8/2002 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 1825 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 36,500 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $6,387.50 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 257 [B]Hrs:[/B] 7 [B]Mins:[/B] 50 [B]Seconds:[/B] 40

All sorts of tips and tools can guide you through this journey. Experience and sharing can help you stay on the positive path and keep you quit. Did you get it the first time? The second time? What made you keep this quit, is an interesting topic of discussion, thanks Bear :) Josie, Support Specialist

Gen Do's this mean you did'nt approve of my wicked body ;p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/20/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 140 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,520 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1,400.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 31 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 44 [B]Seconds:[/B] 50