Tomorrow, February 14th, is the eleven month anniversary of my quit, so I have one month to go until I'm given the keys to the Penthouse.
Here's a thought that's probably never been expressed before on this forum: I never, ever seriously thought I would be here!
Okay, I'm trying to be funny. But it's true - when I first quit, eleven months seemed like two or three lifetimes away. The ONLY way I got here was taking it one hour, and one day at a time back when I first quit. The thought that I was quitting forever scared the bejesus out of me.
So I quit for today. And then again tomorrow. And the day after that. And then I reached a milestone and beamed with pride. 3 days, a week, two weeks, a month.
It's important in the beginning that the milestones are not too far apart. Reaching one is so reinforcing, so validating, that it's critical to have a bunch of victories early on.
I worried when I reached six months that there were no more "rooms" until I got to a year. But you can brag about a milestone whenever you reach one: X number of months, or this many unsmoked cigarettes, or that much money saved, or whatever. There are ALWAYS milestones right in front of you.
So now I'm getting pretty darn close to that proverbial, mysterious, unknown Penthouse. It will be a nice way to spend Valentine's Day, thinking of all the good I've done my heart this past year.
Now I'm wondering - do they send out an information packet or something before you get to the Penthouse with a list of rules, benefits and an FAQ? Or is there an Orientation your first day there?
