The first three days are 80% because we're fighting a strong mental addict along side a physical addiction and detox. That's three against one! Those were some challenging days in my quit. The odds lead us to strategy to fight and win. When we squared off with the addiction we told ourselves, "not right now" letting the addict think that satisfaction may come later. It won't come at us with its "A" game if it thinks it's still possible to get a fix later. We play this game with the addict until the odds improve, the physical addiction subsides and the detox passes. After the 80% it's a level playing field (let the games begin). Now we can tell the addict ,"NO!" It complains and is more persistant and then less until rarely heard from. It's always there, in the back under a rock. We would be foolish to think otherwise. The addict now appears when a trigger surfaces that we haven't dealt with or haven't dealt with adequately. If we are successful, the addict goes back under the rock but watches carefully for the opportunity we promised it in the first three days. STOP THE INSANITY!!! Be honest with your addict. Tell it there won't be another cigarette ever then brace for impact. When I did this the addict came at me with both barrels, crave levels I hadn't felt since early on. It was not pleased with this declaration and tried to claim its prize with days of craves. I got through it and it wasn't nearly as challenging as the 80% but it was uncomfortable for a few days. I wish I could say the craves ended there but it was just a significant trigger that I had to face. The craves I get now sporadically hardly register compared to those of those days. It was hanging out there and now is behind me. I think if I had not dealt with it on my terms it would have surfaced at a weak moment and had a better chance of harming my quit. As it stands, I'm winning the game and I intend to keep winning because I know how to win. Skills I learned in the first three days. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/15/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 153 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,060 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $642.60 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 24 [B]Hrs:[/B] 16 [B]Mins:[/B] 21 [B]Seconds:[/B] 22

Tom, I just read all the posts here WOW!!!!!!!!!! you have helped me to sit back and think alittle, alot, more! wonderful post great guy! what a help all this is never had this in the last quit. hugs, prayers, pixie dust Bobbi [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/27/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 138 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,140 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $345.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 20 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 16 [B]Seconds:[/B] 14

In spite of our best efforts, sometimes we fail. In an article by Carlin Flora, Embracing the Fear of Failure, the author states, "Unless we learn to embrace failure (whether it's led by an unavoidable mishap, a moral lapse, or a risk miscalculated), we remain snugly tucked inside our comfort zone. The pressure to be perfect leaves us tip-toeing around family members or coasting on automatic pilot at work, feeling safe but stagnated-and not quite alive." Failure litters the road to success and is a necessary part of the success process. Failure is a learning opportunity not summation. Carlin Flora goes on to say, "Even if environmental conditions allow for high failure tolerance, some people will take setbacks to heart instead of to mind. Such people let a disappointment seep into their sense of self like a poison. University of Washington psychologist Jonathon Brown found that those lacking self-esteem overgeneralize their failures to conclude that they are just plain less intelligent and less competent than others. Paradoxically, the best way to build self-esteem is to take action after falling down, to build a reserve of personal efficacy." Don't misread the failure experience. It's intended to improve your approach and methods until you ultimately succeed. The author concludes by saying, "Perhaps in every realm of life, we should not merely accept failure, but actively go out of our way to fail. Then if we do, we can chalk it up as a success." This could be taking the embrace of failure a little far. I wouldn't light up to make my next quit stronger but if events led to me to light up I would quit again and make a note of the situation that led me to fail so I make it through the next time. This is the way it's supposed to be. Don't worry about it. You haven't let anybody down. You're learning to be smoke free and you're going to make it because you don't fear failure, you use it to be successful and you desire to be smoke free. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/15/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 149 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,980 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $625.80 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 24 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 49 [B]Seconds:[/B] 28

Jeanigirl and Blue Cloud, Hello and congratulations!! You're doing great and I'm happy to know you! I was getting too comfortable in my quit and needed to get back in the game. As you said, this site is great for reminding ourselves why we're here and what brought us this far. All the best to you both and let's all not give anything back to the junky. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/15/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 129 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,580 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $541.80 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 20 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [B]Mins:[/B] 47 [B]Seconds:[/B] 9

Just what I needed to read today. I am amazed at how often this site has come to my rescue.Thanks to all you people who are willing to share your knowledge. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/4/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 17 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 340 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $68.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 9 [B]Mins:[/B] 9 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49

Hi everyone, so glad i checked in. This post is great and a reminder of all of our journeys. I have not been around much, not like my previous quits that were a hellish journey, but certainly gave me the ammunition to make this my final quit. I have reached a comfort zone and realize i will always be an addict, but every once in a while i check in..WHY... because this is the best place to remind myself how i got this far, why i quit in the first place, and the best group of individuals i have ever come across...keep those beautiful quits all the best jeanigirl.... [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/28/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 84 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,092 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $399.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 9 [B]Hrs:[/B] 5 [B]Mins:[/B] 11 [B]Seconds:[/B] 59

Hmmm... �The tobacco industry is the greatest killing organization in the world. The harm done by all the armies in the world combined, will not begin to equal the damage inflicted upon the human race by the combined activity of the cultivators, manufacturers, and distributors of tobacco.��Dr. Jesse M. Gehman, Smoke Over America (East Aurora, N.Y: The Roycrofters, 1943), p 216. "Tobacco alone is predicted to kill a billion people this [21st] century, 10 times the toll it took in the 20th century, if current trends hold," says the Associated Press article, "Tobacco could kill 1B this century," The Detroit News, p 4A (11 July 2006). [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/15/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 128 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,560 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $537.60 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 20 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 41 [B]Seconds:[/B] 4

I found some interesting info-bits here for your viewing pleasure. This is the stuff the junky tells us won't hurt us... - Tobacco is �a poison that is more dangerous than hemlock, deadlier than opium. . . . Assuredly, when people try it for the first time, they feel an uneasiness that tells us that we have taken poison.� Soon �all reasoning, all warning is in vain. He cannot shake off his enemy . . . tobacco alone becomes a fatal, insatiable necessity addiction . . . smoking is a permanent epilepsy.��Dr. Guy Fagon (French 'Surgeon-General,' 26 March 1699). - �One cigar contains a quantity of nicotine which would prove fatal to two persons if directly injected into the circulation. . . . The literature contains many references to tobacco poisoning where tobacco has been swallowed with suicidal intent, accidental poisonings. . . . Less severe poisonings have been noted by nearly every one upon beginning the use of tobacco, where the peripheral and nauseant actions predominate. Even chronic smokers often experience ill effects and pain from smoking.� - Instead of eliminating nicotine, �Cigarette Companies Increasing Nicotine Levels, Health Officials Say� (Associated Press, 29 August 2006) (�Tobacco companies have increased the nicotine levels in cigarettes by 10 percent over the past 6 years . . . Nicotine levels in Kool cigarettes -- popular with African-American smokers�rose 20 percent. In 1998, 84 percent of cigarette brands fell into the highest range for nicotine delivery; in 2004, that figure had risen to 93 percent. So-called "light" cigarettes delivered as much nicotine as other cigarettes.� - "Nicotine is one of the most powerful of the 'nerve poisons' known. Its virulence is compared to that of prussic acid. . . . . "It seems to destroy life not by attacking a few but all of the functions essential to it. . . . A significant indication of this is that there is no substance which can counteract its effects. . . . - "the use of tobacco in even the smallest amount impairs the functional action of the liver on the blood passing through it, and that the abnormal state of the blood thus caused will manifest itself by disturbance in the brain. - "Smog technician Christopher Delo pulls a long, coiled probe out of the exhaust pipe of a late-model Volvo. The car passed smog certification, so it's time for his smoke break. Delo lights a Marlboro, still holding the pollution-measuring nozzle. He takes a drag and puffs directly into the end of the probe to 'smog' himself. Flashing across the computer screen at Newport Smog are readings for air-polluting molecules from partially burned fuel, including hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. The 1997 Volvo measured 50 parts per million of hydrocarbon emissions. Delo's breath reads 351." If this were on a billboard would you want any of this? [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/15/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 128 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,560 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $537.60 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 20 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 40 [B]Seconds:[/B] 28

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement Windy, Rose and Mercy. The one thing better than realizing your quitting smoking for good is realizing there are so many others that are doing too and most will help you along the way. This site is the best, isn't it? [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/15/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 125 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,500 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $525.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 20 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 5 [B]Seconds:[/B] 34

Thanks for the post. It is what i need to hear now that it is getting easier. Good Advice. and..........you got great looking stats. Mercy [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/21/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 178 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,560 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $795.66 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 23 [B]Hrs:[/B] 10 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 4