The Imaginary Penthouse

[nsd_user663_1658]

For me personally quitting is not about getting to the Penthouse, but about having achieved the goal of not smoking.

I for one dont really like the penthouse ...it reminds me of something that once I achieve I have been successful! 1 year of not smoking is of course a remarkable achievement & rightly so! I dont however feel it will be the point of no return.............. I think that someones personal journey is on going far far past the penthouse!! ............... For some people they may feel they have already failed because they havent got to that one year!! ........ However shouldnt every day someone does not smoke be a blessing!! and a huge reason to celebrate in its own right.

I mean lets face it I have read lots of failed quits on this forum including my own.....or the fact someone as just had one.!! blipped...smoked however its is phrased!! This surely isnt a competition who can get to 1 year with the cleanest track record or is it?

I am awaiting my turn with curious anticipation just to see if I will be editing this post at that time!! or I will stand by the fact that the penthouse isnt for everybody!

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Hi KitKat

Interesting perspective, I think you might have a point as I have read a couple of posts where people have got to the 1 year mark and then felt deflated and almost lost as they have achieved what they set out to do and then do not know what to do next.

I have personally set my goal at the penthouse, but when I have achieved that I think I will reset my goals so as to avoid the lost feeling.

You are of course correct about every day being worthy of celebration, but by the time you get a year into your quit complacency drops in and 1 year is as good a time as any to remember / celebrate your quit?

It goes back to the advice given to all newbies "whatever it takes not to smoke"

[nsd_user663_17388]

One year would most definitely be a major acheivement for me! However, absolutely personally speaking my own 'penthouse' will be reached when I no longer crave to the extent I do now. When it's manageable.....when I feel like a non smoker, when it's nothing but a passing thought with little or no consequence.

(I know that may not actually happen to that extent but somewhere near would be lovely, I'll always be an addict but to feel - just - normal).

However, I will probably crow on about it and scream from the roof tops of the penthouse suit when I do get there

[NicFirth 10 Years Smoke Free]

KK you are right.

What makes you a non smoker is not which rung you have reached on the theoretical ladder, but what attitude you have achieved.

If you reach a year quit or longer but still have a strong desire to smoke then the battle is still on going. Everyone is different, some people have a more engrained "habit" than others but we can all beat it.

Personally as I progressed from days to weeks to months milestones were hugely significant and served to remind me how far I had gone from being a well and truly hooked smoker, to someone that was now a non smoker. As I approached the 1 year mark their importance reduced and milestones were more of an indulgent pat on the back and an invitation to others to do so as well, I knew that my quit was pretty secure.

So its not about "The Penthouse" its about does kitkat72 believe that she has cracked it?

Well do you?

[nsd_user663_10013]

Hi KK me old mucker

I've never held with the idea of the mythological 'Penthouse' - one year is an huge achievement and I admire everyone that gets there but the whole concept isn't for me. Personally I don't do heights and would be happier in a caravan out the back but each to their own and whatever goal you set yourself then that's for you and you alone.

For me the goal was to feel that I'd never smoke again and I think I've got there. At this moment in time I am happy with my life and me and know that I'm now a non smoker

Smoking was a HUGE part of my life and most of my amazing memories have ciggies attached - I'll never lose that part of me - she's just become an old friend

So matey - what's your goal?

[nsd_user663_1658]

Thanks for replies everyone

Can i just comment that I wasnt saying that milestones was a bad thing in general! more the opposite. A brilliant way to record how far you have come along on your quit and take pride in that fact, clocking up the hours days weeks months and years!! Think I have been a little misunderstood! Was merely saying the dissapointment people feel when the blip.smoke.fail or continue to try is overwhelmed and possibly made 10 fold for not reaching that goal that is set out ! The Penthouse!! Maybe I am wrong! but for me its about giving yourself the praise that you need in your own self for getting so far in your journey wherever it takes you ....so what! if someone fails ..smokes!! In my mind you have 4 choices you smoke ...or you dont...... you keep on trying or you give up ......This of course will narrow down to 2 in a instant or for some of us over time

John & looper with your quits & thanks for replying good to read about what others think

Nic, doing okay thankyou. Think Kitkat72 is on the scenic route to The Penthouse

Pookies ...... Good to hear you, Like your goal..... Mine I think is to look back one day & think WTF was that all about

Well done everyone... and Be good!