Day 55 - Can you smoke for 66 hours straight?

[nsd_user663_54620]

55 days

660 cigs not smoked

Time saved 2 days 18 hours

Now that I am nearing the 2 month mark for my quit I am looking back and how the hell I managed to do it. I enjoyed smoking. I never really wanted to quit. I did knew that I should but was I telling myself to put it off because I was busy or stressed or what have you.

I hope my process helps others because I am still here despite the ups and downs.

I started by having a commentary every time I smoked. I always told myself how bad it was and I would think about all of the bad things it does to me. I did this for a good 6 months before the day came. I decided on quitting for one day. That day was awful. I was very tired all day and slept for most of it. In retrospect sleeping that day away was what saved me. Once I had a day under my belt it was much harder to go back. When day two began I thought about how I had made it a whole day and decided on one more hour. then another hour...and another. By the end of day two I was worn thin. I had my packet half finished still sitting by the door. I would go outside with it and just smell them. I would take a few deep fresh breaths and go back inside. I would place them right back in their spot. I don't think I said to myself "I am going to quit" so my process was a matter of trying for one more hour. If I had looked at it as a life long thing I am certain I would have caved. That just seems to big for me.

The days progressed one bit of time after one bit of time. Day four hit and I had massive cravings. That is when I found this site. From that moment on any cravings that were about to do me in were push through by reading and sharing in the struggle. I learned that I am stronger because of you. When you have a good or bad day or just want to be silly, you improve my ability to stay quit. I have never been so fond of people I have never met before!

As the days and weeks went by I kept reminding myself that I can smoke at any time so there is no rush to do so. Starting back up is easy so what is waiting 10 minutes and then waiting another.

What makes my quit work for me is that I have decided that if I start up again that I will be a smoker for life. When I want to have a puff I think to myself "am I ready to make this choice for life?". It is quite a profound way for me to combat the "just one puff" nag in my head. I don't get to have just one puff. The choice I make in any given moment is for life. So my choice in this moment is to not smoke. I will worry about the next moment when it comes.

I have had some bad days but now all my days have a bit of good in them as long as I am quit. I have had 2 days and 18 hours more of time to just live life. Imagine yourself smoking for 2 day and 18 hours straight! Or at the beginning of every month smoking for a whole day. 24 hours of just smoking. It's madness right?

I am saving time. I am saving money. Most important, I am saving my life.

For every hour you don't smoke, you are saving time, money, and you are saving your life. I don't care if you are on your first quit or your 20th quit, your life is worth saving! (Time and money are pretty cool too!)

[nsd_user663_55597]

Riversong, Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I really enjoyed reading it.

I like the idea of telling yourself that if you have one puff, that it is for life. What a good way to prevent that "just one puff" feeling.

Thanks again.

[nsd_user663_53437]

inspiring..............

Inspirational post!!

[nsd_user663_54554]

Excellent post RiverSong, so I've just rated this thread as "Excellent".

Stay strong, I have no doubt you will. :cool:

[nsd_user663_55464]

Fantastic post!!!!

Some great advice there xx

[nsd_user663_54510]

Great Post,!!!!

[nsd_user663_54559]

Hi Riversong, I sure have missed you here

It is the very thing I do as well, not days but hours at a time!!

Wonderful post and great to see you stop by... take care!!

[nsd_user663_48461]

Dear All

I don't get on much these days, but this one caught my eye. The title and content of the post reminded me of me. I made my first post on here on Day 55. I also, like Riversong, decided at a very early stage that I had two basic choices.

This seems really wonky to me, that on some level, I'm being sanctimonious / self-righteous / supercilious / downright bloody egotistical and smug (choose your preferred adjective!). :eek:

But I thought, WTF, I'm getting a funny feeling here, perhaps this might help some people (something I've not had so much time to do on here recently).

Below is a link to a thread I started, together with some really helpful replies from the lovely people on this forum. It was at the 11 week quit stage. I'm now 6 weeks shy of The Penthouse. I couldn't have done it without the help and support of the wonderful members of this forum.

My overall intention is to help. I hope I'm not any of the above adjectives; especailly not a smug b1tch!! Mainly, I want to be able to reinforce the message that practice makes perfect, and that you can do this.

I hope this is helpful.

forum.nosmokingday.org.uk/s...

Best wishes to you all. You can beat this terrorist monster b@st@rd!!

Sx

[nsd_user663_44684]

Love this post

Denise x

[nsd_user663_55881]

As the days and weeks went by I kept reminding myself that I can smoke at any time so there is no rush to do so. Starting back up is easy so what is waiting 10 minutes and then waiting another.

What great advice

[nsd_user663_54620]

My goodness, I did not expect this to be so well received. All of you have helped me so much to make it to 2 months and am so very grateful. I know everyone has their own method for making it work. Each person is different but maybe someone here will find it works for them too.

I hope you all find your way to keep the quit!!!