8 months today for nicfirth

[nsd_user663_3728]

Hi Folks

Just realised it is Nics 8 month anniversary 2127

Well done Nic and thanks for all the help and encouragement

Love

Margxxxxxxx

[nsd_user663_3633]

Well done Nic....

You deserve this one more than most, mate - for all the help you give others, and because of the stress you have had recently.

Congratulations

[nsd_user663_1733]

Nic, So pleased I never missed your big day mate. Well done and thank you for all your support. xxxxxxxxxxxx

[nsd_user663_4197]

well done nic !!!!

congratulations to you, what a great achievement

thanks for all your support too xxx

[NicFirth 10 Years Smoke Free]

Thanks you lot,

8 months, well is it really significant? Not really, it is nice to be able to say I’ve been quit for 2 thirds of a year but in reality nothing is any different today from how it was yesterday or will be tomorrow.

For several months now I have known that I have quit, will not slip and will not smoke again, I am a non smoker. Its not complacency its about knowing who I am now. I do still think about smoking regularly and have the occasional desire to smoke (especially with my recent vacancy for an emotional crutch), but my resilience is there and I know that I would gain nothing from smoking and I am not prepared to let the whole pile of crap, which is smoking, back into my life.

This forum has helped me tremendously and while I have been a prolific poster, the truth is that my posting was to keep me on the straight and narrow as much as it was to help others. There are a new bunch of posters doing a fantastic job and I don’t feel that I’m in much danger of straying from the right path, consequently I’m devoting less time to the forum, and feel myself drifting away.

So what have I learned?

Well the key to quitting is knowledge, it is to develop an understanding of how nicotine addiction works, how we develop associations with smoking which need to be worked through, how situation after situation reminds you that you used to do “this” with a smoke and how you need to practice being a non smoker before it feels completely natural and normal.

Over the last 8 months I have regained control of my own life, I no longer I worry about running out or have to make the 2am drive to the 24hr garage to restock. I don’t make myself run late by having a smoke, I have not burnt over a grand I can’t really afford to waste, I can breathe easily, my hands and feet have been warm over winter as my circulation has improved, my stamina and most noticeably my recovery rate are much better. Basically I have gained so much and sacrificed absolutely nothing. The cigarettes where I got a hit from the drug, the rush, the head spin were so few and far between that I hardly remember them. I now understand that I didn’t really enjoy smoking, I just perceived that I did.

All you early days quitters, stick with it. I was badly addicted, and a serial quitter. My quit pattern totally screwed up I would abstain for a bit then reward myself for doing so by smoking, crazy. The only way to stop is to not smoke. Whatever way to choose to quit the fact is that you will stay quit so long as you do not put a lit cigarette in your mouth and inhale. It really is as simple as that.

Don’t think you can sneak the odd one here and there because that means you haven’t got the right mindset, you are aiming to become a non smoker not an occasional smoker, very very few people maintain occasional smoking rates virtually all will be back to square 1 in a short time.

So do I have any regrets, well yes. I 1st registered on this forum in 2006 and at that time I lasted a matter of days before failing. Had I discovered the information I now know back then I would have been enjoying the fantastic benefits of being a non smoker 2 years earlier!

To paraphrase Nike my attitude to smoking is now “Just Don’t do it!”

[nsd_user663_3728]

Great post Nic thankyou shall print it off when I get my printer back or get a new one as think mine is knackered

Marg

[Tomatpots 10 Years Smoke Free]

Well done Nic, good work ;)

[nsd_user663_2783]

WTG Nic - thank you for all your support and the kicks up the backside. Hehehe

Very good post that. Will save it in my favourites.

All the best

Jan

xx

To pinch a phrase from another post "I will not be controlled by a plant".

[nsd_user663_2981]

Congratu-ma-lations Nick, knew you would get there. Good date you picked too heheh

Wkd

[nsd_user663_3356]

Well done Nic.

Reading your post just confirms what i have been pretty sure of for quite some time...

"theres someone who will NOT lose this quit".

Well done on reaching this milestone and i am sure there will be many more along the way, before you finally forget that you actually ever did smoke, but that day will also come .

Congratulations Nic.

[This-Time]

Nic

You are an inspiration!

Congratulationson your first 8 months!

[nsd_user663_4016]

Nic, Congratulation on 8 months! You have helped so many people with your encouraging posts. Todays post no exception - excellent! Thank you for all your help and keep in touch.

Quit: Jan. 18, 2009

Method: CT

[nsd_user663_3810]

A huge well done to you nic-great big cyber hug sent your way xxxx

[nsd_user663_3617]

Nic,

You have been a massive inspiration to people on this board every since I have been here (6 months).

8 months in to the rest of your life. :D

Well done and Thanks

Bernie

[nsd_user663_3554]

Congrats Nic on 8 months...................

[NicFirth 10 Years Smoke Free]

Thank you all.

Only 119 days to the penthouse!!

[nsd_user663_4397]

wow im no where near this close yet but wanted to have alittle nosey around to see if things really do get easier... ive noticed that although it does get easier in regards to not thinking about it as much... its always there in the back of your mind.... recently i have been thinking alot and although my mind is trying to tell myself that i did infact enjoy smoking and that i was a happier person when i smoked.. so i might as well just have the "one " to satisfy my craving..... when i think back there was so many times that i would put a lit ciggarette to my lips and end up throwing half away wondering why the hell i did that as i never really faniced it.....

i know in a way im trying to run before i can walk by reading peoples logs that are so far ahead of my own but it has really encouraged me to continue.. i am a stubborn person anyway so why not be stubborn enough to not let it beat me....

ive decided to change my attitude so instead of thinking of myself as a ex smoker im now a non smoker....... xx

[nsd_user663_4026]

Nic,

You have been a huge inspiration to me in my quit and you are one of the reasons I am happy to be a non smoker and not just a given up smoker who bemoans the fact that I can't smoke and is miserable. Your posts always hit the nail on the head. I am sending a million congratulations and at least a gazillion thank yous! x

[nsd_user663_3140]

Well done Nic and an excellent post, its words like these that really help us newbies get through the days knowing there is a better life outside of this silly drug addiction.

All the best, Mike

[NicFirth 10 Years Smoke Free]

Thanks you guys, feeling very pleased, and happy as a non smoker