Welcome new quitters! By taking on the challenge of your first 3 nicotine-free days, you've taken an enormous first step on your road to freedom from a deadly and demanding addiction.
Understanding the nature of this addiction, and the hoops through which it makes us jump is key to enabling yourself to continue down this path. It's convenient, as a smoker, to fall back on the perspective that you're simply enjoying a legal, and somewhat socially acceptable vice;
"I'm not like one of those heroin junkies, coke addicts, or speed freaks. I smoke because I enjoy it."
Consider for a moment the lengths you might have gone to in your jonesingest moment to get your fix had cigarettes NOT been legal. Would that have stopped you? Are you sure?
Think back on the times in your life when a nicotine fix, despite being legal, suddenly became difficult to obtain. Or to some really inappropriate time when your craves took control of you, and made you do something obscene to get your dose.
Are you an "addict"? Does that word bother you? To what lengths have you gone to get your dose when the dose wasn't handy or appropriate?
There are 256 posts in this thread. You can use the "First", "Previous", "Next" and "Last" links at the bottom of the page to navigate through them. Read about what some other members have done to get their nicotine. Do you relate to their stories? Do you have your own story you want to get out there?
Understanding that this IS an addiction, and not simply a "vice" or a "habit" is absolutely fundamental to your ability to continue making the decision to not take that next puff.
I still get emotional when I read through the replies to this thread. For me, it is a terrifying reminder of the dark place I was in when I was actively using nicotine, and of my gratefullness for having freed myself of it.
For you, the recent quitter, in the midst of the first week (or the first month, or first 3 months...), I hope it will serve as an eye-opener to how much of a grip nicotine has held over you. And, with those eyes opened, I hope the path ahead becomes clearer for you; the path that is lined with signs that all say the same thing: "Don't take that next puff."
Please feel free to add your own stories. You may find it to be difficult or even frightening to put those experiences out there in front of yourself and others, but I think you'll also find that pressing that "Send Message" button may be liberating experience.
imageBob (4 years, 11 months, 30 days free)