I am so happy to say that it has been six months since I quit smoking!!!! Boy, it feels so good to say that. I never thought it would be possible. I had struggled, felt quilty, gotten a dx of COPD, felt increasingingly poorly but none of that made my attempts to quit successful. If anything, it just increased my stress and lowered my self esteem. I really did feel like a hopeless case. By chance I happened upon the Ex site. I read all I could about addiction. I was greeted by others who were succeeding. They gave me links to more reading. Through this I learned about the power of addiction and how people can recover from its grip.
I got practical advise and encouragement from members here. And best of all, one day at a time, I was able to NOT smoke. I learned that the cravings may come and go but I didn't have to give in to them. This sounds so obvious but in the grip of addiction it never felt like I had a choice. I thought (and prayed) that the craving would disappear and then I would be free. It turned out that I had to ignore the craving by refocusing my attention. I had to accept that because of addiction the cravings may pop up when I least expected but that did NOT mean I had to act on them. I could calmly notice them but then choose to do something else. When I did that , then the craving would disappear.
Today those cravings pop up less and less but when they do I do not freak out. I just notice, refocus on something else and thankfully don't feel like I'm a slave to this addiction. My heartfelt thanks to all my dear friends here on Ex for helping me get this far. Life while not smoking is so much better than I ever thought it would be!
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