Good morning, Lore:  Your posts are always so full of wisdom.  I look forward to reading each of your posts.  They mean a lot to me.  Sooooooo glad I remain smoke free.  It’s interesting that yesterday evening I started to romance once again having a smoke.  I wan’t even aware of it until I became aware of it.  And once I became aware of it I realize how insidious this addictive drug nicotine is.  I immediately got off that delusional romancing track and switched over to my “authentic “ track which knows for a fact that cigarettes are my undoing on every level.  And the thought of smoking just one was enough to jolt me back into reality.  One is too many and a pack is never enough.  

Back home from Seattle.  The opera, the Elixir of Love by Donizetti was fabulous.  Seattle does such a first class job on each and every opera it produces.  It was really amusing, funny and upbeat.  Just what the audience needed after coming down from those two stressful years of covid.  

We ate at some good restaurants.  Greek food one evening and Thai food the next night.  We walked around the town quite a bit, especially in the Queen Anne neighborhood where our hotel was located.  Great location as we could just walk to the opera.  

I hope you are still enjoying Hawaii.  And that you are getting some rigorous swimming.  

Good to hear from you, as always.

Anthony 

Good morning, friends:  Yes, quitting smoking is a huge accomplishment.  Huge.  Gigantic.  Life changing.  Almost a miracle because previously I was soooooo afraid that I would never quit.  And so afraid my life would be totally dreadful without cigarettes.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  Definitely those thoughts were the result of years of brainwashing about the glamor of smoking.  Talk about straw dogs.  

What is different this time?  The Delphi forum.  Instead of smoking when I wake up, I can go this forum and get my daily nourishment.  Even though I do not post daily I get an enormous amount of sustenance reading these posts.  Each post increases my resolve to go through one more day smoke free.  And every time I do post the very act of writing my post reinforces my desire to quit.  I draw strength from the honesty of many of these posts.  And the spirit in which they are written reflect my own spirit.  We are in this all together, aren’t we?  

Truth be known, quitting by myself was a very lonely endeavor.  Most especially when I would be hit by a massive crave.  Then it was all over.  Back to opening up a fresh pack of Marlboro Reds to alleviate the terrible urge.  And , of course, it would be ages before new attempts at quitting were undertaken.  But this time my very contact with Delphi tends to dampen my cravings; to deflate them before they grow out of control.  And when I feel my craves are rising too rapidly, I go to this forum for protection and I ALWAYS receive the grace I am looking for and need to quiet those addictive urges.  

This time my Quit is truly on the right path.  In every way.  Once again thanks to all of you.  I trust you will stay on your proper path of remaining smoke free.  And just remember that all of us are here for you and that we are sending you our good vibrations to further your success.  Anthony

Well said Tonypfan, well said.  

Cheers!

Good morning, Forum members:  Just checking in today.  All is well here.  My QUIT date is July 17th, 2022.  I remain smoke free and am impressed with how “easy” it has been to stop smoking.  Oh,sure, I’ve had some fairly intense cravings, but not so powerful that I ran out to buy a pack of Marlboro Reds, 100’s.  The reason is that this Forum and its posts have given me a powerful weapon to defend myself against them.  And it works 100%.  But I still do not take my QUIT for granted.  I remain diligently in my resolve and I am learning to guard my thoughts.  No more romancing a cigarette.  UGH, why would I want to do that anymore?  Smoking sucks!!!!

 I am a much different  person without cigarettes:  more calm, more peaceful, and more energy to do constructive things with my life instead of poisoning myself.  What a Godsend.  I am free.  FREE.  The best of my life is yet to come.  I salute all of you reading this post.  I send you heartfelt wishes to remain strong in your intention to stop this nefarious addiction.  And thank you for all of your posts.  Anthony

Hi Anthony,

You are so on spot with your post.  You have the right mindset and that is what it is all about.  I swear I just got fed up with being a prisoner to the addiction... that was my force.  No more romancing it...no more thinking it was my "friend" and the thing that calmed me.  It was the thing that was destroying me... physically, emotionally, financially.  I just had to get the mindset to believe that and the fact that I really did not "enjoy" smoking (like everybody says).  No, they enjoy satisfying the withdrawal symptoms that happen like 5 minutes after you put it out.  When you don't have those anymore, you know that was all a hoax.

So glad that you are doing this and staying close to the forum.  The forum was absolutely my go-to whenever I felt like giving in.  I would just think "How am I going to tell Denim, and Marilyn, and Brian, and every other quit buddy on here that I gave in?"  Then I'd come online and there was always someone to give me the bit of support that I needed to make it through that day.  Thank you for being here Anthony and I can't wait to celebrate each of your milestones and achievements with you!

Cindi:  Thanks for your encouragement. We are kindred spirits when it came to our nicotine addiction. You are doing incredibly well. I take hope in your recovery. Anthony 

I totally agree with what you are saying here.  Once I got the right mindset, it was much easier to see it through.

For sure.  It was actually like a light switch.

True, so true.  Like suddenly I saw past all the bunk and it all made sense.  Mindset really does make the difference in the level of torture we put ourselves through when quitting.  Here's the thing.  We put ourselves through that torture.  It isn't necessary, it doesn't have to be that way and, we can change that in an instant.  Just switch off the tortures and switch on acceptance with joy.  When I did that, it felt like I was surfing the crave waves instead of enduring them.

Mindset makes a difference.   

Congratulations!  I realize I am posting a couple of weeks late but one month is a huge deal!  I remember making it to one month and thinking I could possibly do it forever!  Four years and one month later, I am still a non-smoker.  Hope you did something good for yourself.  I would try to do something for myself when I hit certain milestones that first year even if it were something simple, like getting an iced coffee or going to dinner with some of the money I saved not smoking.  Best of luck to you as you continue!