treepeo
832 posts
Registered:
29 Nov 2017
21 Dec 2018
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Hi jac,
I want to congratulate you for your two smoke free weeks. I know you're struggling big time. Quitting is so tough to do. But just because you're struggling doesn't mean you shouldn't be proud of yourself for making it this far. You should be really, really proud of yourself. Making it through these first two weeks is a REALLY BIG DEAL!!! You are going through hell but you are sticking it out. That shows that you are strong, determined and committed. And if you have made it this far, you can make it all the way.
When I first quit, I too struggled with the idea of whether or not I wanted to tell people. My hesitation was two fold. For one thing, I also thought that people would just say great and get on with it, and that would be it. I also worried because telling someone else would make it somehow more real, and I knew I would feel even more pressure not to fail. But you know what? Only one person was dismissive of my efforts, and that person was not someone who was important to me anyway. Everyone else was super supportive. My boss high-fived me every second day for weeks. My good friend, who quit 10 years earlier, stopped work whenever I needed her, and she listened to what I was going through that day, and then told me about her own experiences. I found that the support of my family and friends, and the support of everyone here on this site, were a lifeline for me. Now you may not have the same experience as I did, but I just wanted you to know that that is what happened to me when I made the decision to tell people I quit.
I don't know where you stay when you go away, but I have gone to Mexico four times in the past years, and I have found that hardly anyone smokes nowadays. And you certainly could not smoke by the pool, or even on a lot of the grounds. So when I smoked, I found myself skulking around just like I did here at home.
Here's the good news. One of the things I absolutely love about being a non-smoker is the fact that going to the airport does not give me high anxiety any more. I used to be so stressed, and would go into the airport at the last minute, freaking out about how I would get through all of that time without smoking. In fact, I stressed out about that weeks before my trip. But not any more. Nope, now I go in, get through security, and can eat, have a coffee, shop, and remain stress free because my lungs do not ache with longing. I'm telling you, jac, that's a beautiful thing.
I hope you stick with it, jac, because quitting is so worth it. It is a little bit of pain for a lifetime of gain. You will no longer have smoke breath and stinky clothes. You will lose your smoker's cough. You will stop getting so winded. You won't have to stand alone smoking while other people pass you by getting on with their lives. You will gain back so much time that you previously wasted on smoking. And you will save a ton of money as well.
You deserve to live a smoke free life, jac. Be good to yourself. And remember NOPE, Not One Puff Ever.