I was reading my first post and all the responses when I came across this one. It was written a few months ago. I found it very insightful....I found it very
honest and true. It reminds me that even though I've been free for 4 months, I have a lot of growing to do. It reminds me that there is no instant
gratification. Thanks Marty.... I just wanted to share it.
From Marty......
A quit is not an event, not a series of events, it's a changing way of life. That means that your quit will not be a simple, even process of
moving from smoking, thru not smoking but wanting to smoke, to not smoking. You will find that over many days you become easier and easier with the idea of
not smoking, then for a while you may find it increasingly difficult, then you will have a day when you achieve total comfort as a non-smoker, and then
suddenly out of nowhere you will be hit by a triggered crave, and then back again to wondering what all the fuss was about
Over a long period of time, maybe six months or a year, the good times will get better and more frequent, and the bad times fewer and less
troublesome. That's the Freedom guarantee, delivered by every single long-term quitter here
Finally, probably some time after a year, you will truly start
to achieve the ease and comfort of almost never thinking of smoking a cigarette, and eventually you will effectively forget you ever smoked.
But the process of getting there has a lot of twists and turns. It's like any other major change in people's lives, like leaving home to go
to college, getting married, going to live in a new country, and so on. There are a lot of new things to get used to, and you need to spend some time
identifying those changes, and dealing with them.
Quitting is like that. You may have to deal with new sleep patterns, new diet, personality changes. You definitely have to deal with new triggers,
you may want to change the friends you hang out with, and the places you go to. You may want to do things in your life that smoking once prevented you from
doing, like taking exercise or going on long flights.
The changes that will occur, and those that you choose, will almost all be positive ... but they will be changes. So be ready for those "bad
days", and look forward to the "good days". If you're ready for them, and that means reading and educating yourself here, you will
succeed in your quit.
Welcome to Freedom. I think you'll enjoy the journey.
Marty
NOT A PUFF FOR five years, one month, two weeks, six days; 33781 cigarettes not smoked saving £8,107; life extended by maybe 16 weeks, 5
days

