From the TRENCHES come words of SURVIVAL.

[jim_taddeo]

From the addicts in society there are those that have never actually been addicted to anything at all followed by nicotine and one substance junkies. Many people here likely fit into that category although it is my experience that defining this is awful grey. There are also those that ARE addicted to so many things it is unbelievable. Two extremes of the addiction ailment defining fuzzy and blurry the boundaries of the spectrum of uniquely human traits and it would seem to be based in emotions, chemistry, and psychology. Nah I take that back…I’ve seen experiments with monkeys that love cocaine and crack and my beagle used to LOVE Budwiser and Scotch. One thing is certain you will NEVER actually recover from addiction UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT FOR YOURSELF where YOU are for real. Another certainty is YOU WILL NOT RECOVER if you don’t come to believe it is possible.

BUT AN ADDICT IS AN ADDICT IS AN ADDICT

So for those of us that MAY just be looking to become and remain NON-SMOKERS, I strongly suggest the following hints taken from the paths of recovery and adapted to the nicotine recovery. They are the same things to me.

  
• Continuing to smoke is no way to quit
  
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• Excuses do nothing but provide reasons to continue to use
  
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• Lying to yourself is something you are VERY good at
  
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• Quitting is very easy, staying quit is just as easy, REALLY
  
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• Quitting is as simple as NOT DOING IT, YOU MAKE IT HARD
  
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• Seek help in your fellow addicts that have successfully quit
  
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• DON’T follow the advice of fellow addicts that continue to use
  
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• Listen to successful quitters and emulate their actions
  
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• Listen to advice from successful quits EVEN IF YOU DON’T AGREE
  
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• Maintain a positive attitude and when you can’t SEEK HELP
  
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• Help while your attitude is good, if you can, and when you can’t SEEK HELP
  
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• DO NOT SMOKE for any reason EVER
  
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• Cravings don’t kill people and SMOKING does
  
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• Keep going to your support group instead of smoking
  
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• Keep doing that until you don’t WANT to smoke
  
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• When you don’t want to smoke anymore help someone else to get there as well
  
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• Go to your support group for an additional year after you help your 10th person
  
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• Quitting smoking does not solve all of your problems
  
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• Quitting smoking only solves one of your problems but it is a BIG one
  
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• You ARE missing a lot of things by not smoking and ALL OF THEM ARE BAD
  
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• You have to figure out what makes you happy
  
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• You are RESPONSIBLE for you
  
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• Smoking DOES NOT make you happy
  
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• You have the choice to say NO up to the EXACT SECOND of smoking
  
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  REPEAT UNTIL THE END OF TIME and remember you are and will be an addict ALWAYS……….
  ONE PUFF=ONE SMOKE=ONE PACK=ONE CARTON
  
  NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!
  
  PAPA