In the race to quit smoking I've already won because I decided to quit...and in my book that make me a winner :) Congratulations on your 100 days! :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 7/17/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 0 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

Wow Eve that was incredible, I will be re-reading that many times to come. I get such inspiration from you all that have been through what I am experiencing now. Thank you all and and BIG CONGRATS on your 100 days, one day I will be there too. ((((Hugs to you, Eve)))) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 6/19/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 28 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 288 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $56 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [B]Mins:[/B] 18 [B]Seconds:[/B] 23

Hi EveCare congratulations 100 days is huge, I look up to people with these stats and hope to follow in their footsteps :)Marie [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 6/13/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 33 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 508 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $132 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 11 [B]Mins:[/B] 19 [B]Seconds:[/B] 41

[quote]NO!!! This is NOT a race. The quit process is NOT a race to see who quits first and stays quit the longest. It's not a contest. [/quote] Aw man!!!!!!!!!!! You take all the fun out of it! ;p LOL [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 5/12/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 66 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,980 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $264 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 18 [B]Seconds:[/B] 1

Eve, Congratulations on reaching 100 days! We are so proud of you and feel priviledge to be able to guide you along your quit journey. As the days roll by, your posts become increasingly reflective of your growth and progress. Making a lifestyle change is difficult. It requires practice and an understanding of past behavior. Thanks for sharing your insights, we look forward to seeing you on the beach tommorrow. Danielle __________________________ The SSC Support Team

Eve, Great post as always. I'm glad this is not a race. I just keeping a steady pace 1 day at a time. Congrats on 100 Noel [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 4/8/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 100 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,011 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $300 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 11 [B]Hrs:[/B] 7 [B]Mins:[/B] 30 [B]Seconds:[/B] 41

Lady, thank you for your kindess and support toward me here. I sometimes forget my own humanity. I always hold that image of myself as the strong one and forgetting the gentle nature of who we as human beings truly are in pure compassion. I have grown up with having to alway be strong, not allowed to be soft and gentle less I let my guard down I would get stepped on instantly. I think it is time to change that, now that I have left the old 'I think I always have to be strong" attitude behind with smoking. Thank you for the gentle reminder :) RD Man, thank you for your kind words here. You are an amazing inspiration to me as I watch your journey and your stregnth on it, I am inspired many times to keep strong and keep going too. I just wanted you to know that, I do read much of what you write too. Rusty thank you for your support. I was also writing on a high tide of emotion and have re-read my post several times, and feel I utilized the word seperation in place of judgment. In all honesty, I had read some threads on here as of late and felt they were rather harsh, thus I felt it had to come out in my writing some how. But not everything should be sugarcoated, in fact anything suarcaoted is far from the truth, and this site is about the real and true process of a quit. The SSC is the BEST thing that I have done in well, maybe ever...I would not be here now had I not found it. I am learning some very valuable lessons here about the way life really is. I am always grateful for your support and encouragement :) Danielle Thank You! Growing pains are inevitable on my journey here :) tina you ARE already a winner in my book too :) You are gonna make it, you just come here and post away and let us guide the way :) Shevie, well as always your support means the world to me...but you have actually touched on something that I just became aware of recently too, about the turmoil we go through and how I am able to articulate it. I had sent another piece of my journal writing (not one that I posted here, way too high tide LOL) and sent it along to a friend who writes for a magazine out here in CA. He critiqued it and said the same thing 2 months ago, about how I was able to articulate that turmoil of emotion that we all go through (he being an ex-smoker too :) so now I know that he was not just humoring me, thank you for that :) pete thank you so much!!! And yes you will see me at the next milestone (we'll get our picture taken!) :) marie thank you, bless your heart!!! BF- LOL. You know how to crack me up. Thanks girl, you're doing GREAT!!! [IMG]http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i126/Eve144/thankyou.gif[/IMG] [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 4/8/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 100 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 804 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $600 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 8 [B]Hrs:[/B] 10 [B]Mins:[/B] 54 [B]Seconds:[/B] 47

NO!!! This is NOT a race. The quit process is NOT a race to see who quits first and stays quit the longest. It's not a contest. It's a LIFE CHANGE. To view it any other way is irresponsible. In fact it is almost like saying, 'S/He who dies with the most toys wins. On the contrary. S/He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead. So why play with matches when you know all about smoke and mirrors? Why smoke when you already know what the outcome is, in spite of the number of toys you may or may not have? Quitting smoking is a life change. It is not a contest to see who can make it to a certain club or clique. Quitting smoking is not exclusive. We are ALL doing it, and going through it together. So I wonder, why the cause for seperation amongst a group that is based upon unity in its own origin? This is a support group for this particular LIFE CHANGE, is it not? Why would anything LESS ever be acceptable then? I am almost 100 days into my quit. I am facing some emotional stuff right now and I'm dealing with the emotions. But I am dealing with it and not filling the room up with smoke to hide behind it all. NOPE. To be honest, I thought this post might be a little too 'high tide' to post here on this forum. But as always I go with my gut because for some reason I need to write right now. Especially for the fact that I am embarking on 100 days. Wish I felt happier! I do feel like I have raced to get here though, just because for the fact that I didn't feel that anything mattered before it. For some reason, the 100 days is very significant to me. It is a real milestone, to say the least. It is great to have all the other support along the way (2 week, 50 mark etc) but the 100 feels like something big. I am really doing this now. The truth is, through these emotions I am finding out what makes me happy, unhappy, and what I choose to do about it. I have stepped out of the world of illusion for some time now and begun to feel what is really real. And you know what, I don't wish to settle for anything less any longer. I am worth the truth, not only to myself, but also in everything that surrounds me and occupies a space in my world. I've lied to myelf for far too long about smoking and the mere existance I led for 25 years as a result of that poor decision. I am not about to make another bad decision, and give my energy to something that is not in its' entire integrity. This is what I am finding out about who I am. I could not be bothered by anything less than 100% real. The door of compassion is always there, yet not everyone walks through it. I walked through it long ago. There is no turning back for me now. I must keep my course. Many Blessings, Eve [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 4/8/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 99 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 797 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $594 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 8 [B]Hrs:[/B] 9 [B]Mins:[/B] 12 [B]Seconds:[/B] 57

Lovely post Eve. Congratulations on your impending 100 days. Have fun at the beach. Take a rest, relax enjoy and keep stepping through that door to compassion. Thanks Phillip [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/17/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 149 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,993 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1117.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 24 [B]Hrs:[/B] 9 [B]Mins:[/B] 24 [B]Seconds:[/B] 52

Great post Eve and congratulations on your 100 days. This is a huge milestone and really meant a lot to me when I reached it as well. I completely understand what you are saying about emotions. The emotional battle is far worse than the actual withdrawal in my opinion. I have had to learn to deal with emotions in a whole new way. I too have issues with people without integraty. One thing I believe that we need to keep in mind is that we are all human. We have all made mistakes in the past and we will continue to make them in the future. That is all part of living. Do not regret what you have done because it is the lessons of life that make us who we are today. You are a person of good character and that is what matters. You are embarking on a whole new world as a non-smoker. You say you smoked for 25 years; I smoked for 23 so I think we may be in about the same place here. I have also read so many of your posts and can relate to so much of what you are saying. You are a valuable asset to this site Eve and the help you provide others is compasionate and sincere. It is a pleasure to watch you grow along this journey. I enjoy seeing your positive attitude even in your times of distress and your rambles are remarkable. Enjoy your 100 day milestone. It isn't a race and you are absolutely correct when you say it is all about life-change. That is exactly what it is. Learning who we really are without the crutch. Quitting is a soul searching, life changing process. Enjoy it! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 7/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 380 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 7,613 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1330 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 33 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 10 [B]Seconds:[/B] 11