Never a truer word spoken!!!

[nsd_user663_27255]

I've been doing some reading on older posts and have come across this one which I thought I'd repost here.

Very relevant, especially to me the serial quitter!

I have been reading some old threads and a common theme seems to come up amongst the people who come on and then leave after a relatively short time....

They look back at either their smoking lives with fondness or at their other failed attempts to "give up" with fear.

For the vast majority of us who ever start this journey, the decision to quit is one we make with our eyes open - a reasoned one. One that we make (often with a fag in our hand) that we do not want to smoke anymore. Often it takes us days or weeks to work up to day 1. We know it is going to be tough, but we do it anyway. Eyes open, mind focussed.

And then a few days or weeks later we start to remember with fondness the feeling of that one fag we enjoyed. It might have been five years ago, but we remember that one. Not the thousands we hated, just that one. And it makes us crazy until we feel like this is the hardest thing in the world and some go back. Again.

The trick is to trust yourself.

Don't go back. Look forwards to health and wealth.

It took days/weeks to work up to it - would we really have put so much effort into stopping if we didn't mean it?

I can understand going back after an unplanned or unwanted attempt - I had loads of those myself in between the serious ones. The moments that I thought "that's enough" and threw my fags in the bin..... only to buy more a couple of hours later!

So why did I go back after serious attempts?

I can only put it down to forgetfulness.

I forgot how badly I wanted to be free. I looked back and it looked better to me.

Not this time. This time I have made sure that freedom is etched on my brain.

I will have urges, I know this. I knew it when I started this quit. Those urges were very strong at first. Now they are few and far between but sometimes they still pull me up and make me think.

But I knew what I was letting myself in for when I made the reasoned decision to stop smoking.

How have I got to 7 months, especially when it got tough at times?

I trusted my own decision that I was better off in every way not smoking.

And how do I intend to stay free for the rest of my life?

By trusting myself enough to know I am right not to smoke.

[nsd_user663_54305]

Haven't seen that one before, but WOW - powerful words, and really hit it right on the head.

I've seen your recent posts and the responses, and exercised my right to sit firmly on the fence :D:D.

BUT... all I will say is that if you can really understand and take on board this kind of stuff then you really are putting your mind in the right place for a successful, lasting quit. In my own experience you have to be 100% behind a quit and it is insights such as this that WILL get you there. 99.99% just isn't good enough, because that 0.01% will just creep up on you - tomorrow, next week, or next month, and put you right back at square one.

Once you have the real 100% mindset, it ceases to be a battle, and you move on. So none of the 'yay, go girl' cliches this time (pass the vomit bucket:rolleyes - get your head in that place and you will succeed.