Don't know where or when I crossed the line but it was a tough road back to sanity. I've never been one for openly self-aggrandising ( there are enough in this world with that particular "attribute" without me adding to their number) but I do quietly applaud myself for finding a way to beat my addictions. Because, you know what? It was me who did it, no-one else, no religion, no god, no superstition, no higher power. Remember the quote repeated in the threads many times here, "it is your quit, no-one else's" - "you need to quit for yourself and nobody else". It is my quit, it is my addiction, it is my responsibility and it is up to me to correct it.
The difference was that I gained information from various places to fill in the glaring gaps in my knowledge and used that knowledge to find a way back. Much of that information came from this site with answers to my questions that had never been available to me before. No wonder my previous quit attempts, of which there were many, failed.
By the time my final quit started in 2004 I was well aware of my addictive nature but knowledge is power and I turned that improved knowledge to my advantage and used it wisely and I continue to use it to this day to keep me safe.
I can certainly empathise with those suffering from addiction and can only conclude that death for them sadly predates the point of true realisation that one cannot continue in live in this way; it predates any positive action to correct.
Happily, many here have beaten their smoking addiction. Many have disappeared without trace soon after their arrival or later. Many will have failed to beat their addiction. Sadly, many will now be dead because of it.
I don't know where I crossed the line, I am just happy that I managed to cross back again.
Penitent
