Recruitment Drive - Calling all Lurkers

[nsd_user663_54305]

Today is the 24th June - a special day for me as it is six months since I last smoked, or took any other form of nicotine. Six months of freedom!

So I'm posting in day one in the hope of encouraging a few of the lurkers to take the plunge and join us. I know there are plenty of folk who dip into this forum to read a few threads but feel the time isn't right to quit. I implore you to take the plunge - there is never a better time than now, but don't do it without educating yourself, as this is the key to success.

I always said when I took the decision to quit that I would not be counting the days, weeks or months, as (to me at least) that carried a hidden subtext of endurance - you've endured this many weeks / hours / seconds without your 'bestest fave buddy ever' - nicotine. For me that was never what quitting was about, but even so, having quit on Christmas Eve, it makes it hard to forget that today marks six months! For me, the key to quitting successfully was never about enduring this many days / weeks / months before you're 'cured' - it was about getting my head in the right place to understand that:

- nicotine is not your 'bestest fave buddy ever';

- quitting is a journey, not an end point. I'm still quitting, and always will be - but it's a journey which can be enjoyed rather than endured;

- life without nicotine is genuinely, massively, better than with.

There are some people who have quit for many months or even years, but are still feeling they are missing something - I could never be one of these people, I'm far too weak. For me, the key to success is understanding that these feelings are a complete illusion.

SO, all you lurkers - come and join us! There is nothing special about me, or any other quitter on this forum - let's be honest, we were all pretty stupid to start smoking in the first place. We were all once on day one, just as you are now. But we beat it, and you can too. How?

- by understanding the range of quit aids, how they work, and which one is right for you;

- by reading this forum and other online resources and understanding your addiction. Remember that we all have a common end goal but there is more than one way to get there. What works for some may not work for all, and most of what you read will be individual opinion rather than cold hard fact, so question everything you read, embrace those messages which work for you and ignore those which don't. As well as the quitting experiences threads, you'll find plenty of hidden gems in the tips & experiences areas which will make you stop and question yourself and provide genuine insight into what smoking really is;

- share your ups and downs on the forum and you'll find you have the best support network you can imagine.

Please join us, and I hope next Christmas Eve someone can post up on this forum 'I quit six months ago' - and I absolutely promise that if you are that someone you will feel fan-bloomin'-tastic. There is not one single aspect of your life which won't be improved - there's the obvious fitness / health / money but also little things - like the long-haul flight I'm undertaking next weekend. This time last year - a nightmare of deprivation; this year - (Bubbles Devere) 'more champagne dahling':D

To all my fellow Christmas Conquerors who are still with us - some a few days ahead of me, some a few days behind me - a genuine thanks for the support, and I hope I've been able to support others through my involvement on this marvellous forum.

That is all

[nsd_user663_56712]

huge congratulations to you Egg, So glad now that I coudnt sleep so I could read your post and wish you well xx

[nsd_user663_18145]

A BIG WELL DONE ON REACHING 6 MONTHS

thats such a great positive post to be reading and hopefully will inspire afew to join in

mind you on the other side of the coin

blooming heck

:eek:

OMG

that means its only 6 months to

:eek:

CHRISTMAS

:eek:

yikes oh the joys of that delight :rolleyes: in afew weeks time then of going into a shop and being met with the first of the xmas stuff that has snuck in and then it gradualy just takes over the shop :eek:

ops got distracted abit there

:cool:

[nsd_user663_54852]

Just popped in to say huge congratulations for 6 month quit.

Fab post too for all the lurkers and newbies

Might catch up with you soon on the cryptic songs thread but I know I'm a bit too slow with the pace on that one

All the best

Donna x

[nsd_user663_42390]

Well done on 6 months Egg. That post is so positive and any newbie reading that will for sure, be inspired.

One question though, Why did you quit on Christmas Eve? Seems a strange one to me, I wonder why you didn't wait until the new year?

Best wishes for the next 6 months Egg

[nsd_user663_52535]

Egg

Brilliant post. And so well done to you my love. 6 months is amaazzzing

Fi x

[nsd_user663_54305]

Thanks everyone for your kind words

Now, come on out of the woodwork you lurkers!

Who's going to take the challenge and make today the day you started to take your life back from the grip of addiction. Do it now, and come Christmas you'll be six months free and wondering why the hell you didn't do it years ago!

[nsd_user663_58523]

Am fast approaching day three and fingers crossed will be celebrating my six months coming upto Christmas !! Hope so, though not convinced I can do it but going to give it a good try !!

[nsd_user663_58523]

Aw thanks for the support x

[nsd_user663_54305]

OH EGGCELLENT

Someone has stepped up to the challenge :D

BioDee - so glad you posted, and a warm welcome to the forum.

I'm a little concerned with sentiments such as 'not convinced I can do it' though:eek: NEVER DOUBT IT - you CAN do this. Luck doesn't even enter into it - success is entirely within your grasp

You will find the forum is a superb support resource but first you must help us to help you by telling us about yourself - your smoking history, any past attempts to quit, what quit aids you are using etc.

Just think what it will be like to wake up on Christmas Day, six months smoke free and feeling on top of the world. You stand at the start of a path which, at first, can seem a little rocky (well, let's not kid ourselves, it is a little rocky to start with). The secret to success?

- Baby steps - just commit to the next hour, the next day, or even the next minute if the going gets tough. It doesn't take long before your can commit to weeks, then months.

- Never forget your commitment - you may have stopped smoking today, yesterday, last week, last year. You are still an addict. You always will be. It's the hard truth. If you've had a quit before then I guess you already know it and you found out the hard way. If you haven't quit before and this is your first serious quit then this is your biggest potential downfall - read the forum, all the regulars have been there and have the T-shirt. There is no such thing as just one. Just one = square one.

- Educate yourself. Uneducated quits are nothing more than endurance challenges and are doomed to failure. There is a mass of information within this forum and elsewhere online which will show you the true nature of addiction and the wide variety of products available to beat it. Read it, understand it and use it.

- There are a myriad of opinions and methods of reaching a common goal. Understand that most of what you read is opinion rather than cold hard fact. Question everything you read, use what resonates with you and ignore what doesn't. As I type this, I realise that we can't even agree on a common goal - to some, this battle is about beating smoking; to others, it's about beating nicotine addiction (in fact, I remember posting on this very topic some time ago). To me, this is a fundamental difference and underlines my original point - most of what you read is opinion. To the immense credit of this forum, opinion is almost always respected, and never belittled. Read it, understand it, relate it to your own journey.

If you throw yourself into this forum you will find many welcoming arms to support you in your journey. Let's look to Christmas - a milestone for us both:D

[nsd_user663_58523]

It wouldn't let me post a reply earlier. Thanks for your support. Am using lozenges (1.5mg) and so far have stuck to about four or five per day, and no cigarettes. Was smoking 12 to 15 roll ups a day up to and including Saturday 22nd June. Have tried to quit over the years and succeeded for a while a couple of times but need to knock it on the head forever now. Have been suffering from depression (over that now, thankfully, and off the meds) and have been left with insomnia, plus am just not fit at all. So, the intention is to cleanse myself of the dreaded nicotine, and hopefully, this will help with the sleep probs and spur me on to get fit. I work full time so really need sleep and ENERGY

[nsd_user663_54305]

It wouldn't let me post a reply earlier. Thanks for your support. Am using lozenges (1.5mg) and so far have stuck to about four or five per day, and no cigarettes. Was smoking 12 to 15 roll ups a day up to and including Saturday 22nd June. Have tried to quit over the years and succeeded for a while a couple of times but need to knock it on the head forever now. Have been suffering from depression (over that now, thankfully, and off the meds) and have been left with insomnia, plus am just not fit at all. So, the intention is to cleanse myself of the dreaded nicotine, and hopefully, this will help with the sleep probs and spur me on to get fit. I work full time so really need sleep and ENERGY

BioDee,

It's great to hear you sounding positive and determined; you're clearly in the right mindset which really is half the battle.

I'm afraid I didn't go down the NRT route so I can't really offer any advice on the lozenges but if they're working for you then keep at it.

I see you've managed long term quits in the past, so you don't need anyone to tell you the benefits as you're already well aware of how much better you'll feel. It may be worth thinking about what triggered you to start again to make sure you don't fall into the same trap in the future - and also how quickly you fell back into the grip of feeding your addiction once you made that 'little slip'. For me, these memories of how I threw my last quit away certainly help keep me on the straight and narrow

Looking forward to your updates in the coming days - well done you!

[nsd_user663_55073]

Sorry, I missed this post yesterday.

CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING 6 MONTHS

I am not far behind.

Your post was fab and encouraging.

[nsd_user663_54305]

Thank you Jane - still hot on my heels I see:), just a couple of weeks and you'll be there!

So many long term quitters have said six months is a real watershed - I guess we're all a bit different but know that I for one am feeling very comfortable in my quit, as I'm sure (from reading your posts) that you are with yours.

Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom and all that good stuff, but I've no doubt we'll be cracking a bottle in the penthouse come the festive season, along with a few others who are quite well known around these pages

[nsd_user663_54305]

Haze and Max,

There are always plenty of reasons for thinking 'now is not the right time, maybe in a couple of weeks when things are less stressful'. So if you can quit when under pressure, that's a huge positive boost straight away - 'if I can handle this, I can handle anything'

The other reason for quitting at Christmas was that I wanted it to be a present to myself. This may sound silly, but I found thinking of a my quit as something almost tangible, of value and to be treasured (above just about anything), especially early on, to be very powerful.

Call it perverse logic if you like, but it has worked for me so far:cool:

[nsd_user663_54554]

Egg, a little late :eek: but congratulations on reaching six months - done with conviction and style, I'm really pleased for you!

[nsd_user663_54305]

Thanks Hawk, in totally shameless style, for this belated excuse to bump my own thread

But it's a bump with the best of intentions - a call to those who dip in for a read but don't feel ready to take the plunge. Summer's all but over, holidays are a happy but fading memory, so what have you got to look forward to for the rest of the year? Well here's the thing... do yourself the biggest favour you ever have, or ever will, do for yourself in your entire life, and quit smoking!!

I know, I know, it's not the right time, things are stressful just now, maybe next week, or next month, the time will be right. RUBBISH!! How long have you been smoking, and how long have you been telling yourself that? Months? Years? Half a lifetime? Maybe best to put off the evil day until you're lying on your deathbed? Stop kidding yourself, NOW is the time to make a final promise to yourself to quit nicotine for good.

Immerse yourself in the real life experiences of others on this forum, educate yourself as to the true nature of your addiction, understand it and arm yourself to beat it.

Most long term quitters on this forum (myself included) regarded ourselves as hopeless addicts who could never be free from smoking, completely unable to break free from the grip of nicotine. BUT WE DID, and we're all just like you, nothing special about us at all.

How? Well there's the hardest question. If any one of us could bottle the solution and sell it I'm sure we would become very rich. But the truth is we can't, because you can't just buy a cure to addiction, it has to come from within. You have to do this for yourself, no one else can do it for you.

Invest enough time in reading about, and understanding, your addiction and it becomes entirely 'do-able'. It isn't something you will ever do on a whim, it has to be the most important and precious thing in your life.

There is no doubt it's a rocky road to start with, but it gets better with time and you can't begin to imagine the rewards until you experience them.

SO - JOIN THE FORUM, and let its collective arms support you through one of the most life changing decisions you will ever make - and that's a promise