Thank you, and you, and you!

[pir8fan]

Sheri pointed out this morning on the Freedom Train that Thanksgiving is only one week away! But, I can not wait a week to say what I am thinking! Today, and right now, I want to give Thanks to all of the calm voices of reason! I know that we are all having some struggles with the site changes! That is to be expected! We all want things to get better, but most of us want nothing to do with the "growing pains"! There are a select group of people here who are not only identifying the problems, but taking steps to help correct them! Some are working person to person with others, some are making Admin aware of what is good, and what is bad. Some are doing both! The important thing to see here is that these people are the glue that is holding this site together during some trying times!

All of you, and believe you can recognize yourselves here, I Thank you! All of the people here, including me, owe you an unending debt of gratitude. Keeping this lifeline of support open is an EXtremely important thing!

In the last couple of days I have had contact with a couple of people who found support here, and have since moved on! One had a quit of well over 600 days with the occasional help of the people here. That person left here because of philosophical differences! That person is now on day 9 of a new quit! I believe that the support here made the difference! I had e-mail contact this morning with one of our long time "serial quitters"! This person struggled here long before I ever arrived! During the year and a half I knew this person at this site there were, I believe, 4 different quits! So they smoked for abour 6 weeks during that year and a half! And they kept trying! Offended by the term "serial quitter" they left! Now the effort is gone. This person went from a "serial quitter" who smoked sometimes, to a smoker who smokes all the time! When they were here they had a chance! Without our support they are lost!

Some will say that neither of these people were commited enough! I believe that the members here at this site strengthen peoples commitment every day! I think that there are a lot of folks that were not commited enough,until they found "Collateral Kindness" here to strenghten their resolve! I believe that I am one of those! So today and last night as I messaged these friends, I was grateful for e-mail. My tears for my friends did not stain the pages of a computer screen!

So, one more time, I want to give Thanks to those of you who hold us together in times of trouble! You will never know how many lives you are saving! God Bless you everyone!                 Tommy

[Leeza]

And thank you too.  There are so mony giving and caring people here that provide support on many different levels.  I owe all of you so much!  THANKS FOR GIVING!

[misty_dawn]

What a wonderful blog, Tommy. 

[barbt12-30-2015]

You are the bomb Tommy Kudos to you.What you say is so true, I may have never quit if I did not find this place. It helped me alot to know that other people go through the same things I have expierenced. It truly is a life saving site and I am thankful for all the people who put all the time and effort into keeping it running, and thank you Tommy for being here to help!!!

[nauticalnut2011]

Well said Tommy!  The aggravations of this new and improved site are just that, aggravations.  But the message is still here, and it hasn't changed - if you smoke, you need to quit for life!  If you've quit smoking - NOPE (not one puff ever)!!!

And yes, the collateral kindness just never stops.  I'll have 4 months smoke-free tomorrow, and I know from the bottom of my heart it never would have happened without the patience and support of the elders, NMLers, newbies AND those behind the scenes making this site work day in and day out.

I hope those we've lost due to technical difficulties find there way back to the site with the help of those behind the scenes...this site is priceless!!!  Thank you to all of you who go that extra mile for the benefit of others.

[healthyjayjo]

I'm grateful for all the people on this site who share their struggles and offer their wisdom. Thank you to them and thank you for you, my good friend Tommy!

[JimTaddeo]

You ROCK dude! 🙂 It's mutual...and THAT is the point. Everyone here with a quit from nine hours to nine days to nine months to nine years is simply one puff away from relapse.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with long term participation in recovery and this website is a really good place to do that. No one here got messed up over night and no one here will turn things around overnight either. I am here specifically to help myself through trying to help others.......It really does work.

Good stuff Tommy!

[Giulia]

Each successful quitter strengthens the next.  We are like snowballs gathering more  flakes as we roll along until unshakeable mountains of support are formed.  And YOU are one of those unshakeable mountains!  Don't you ever have a meltdown. 

[shill57957]

The changes to this site were very upsetting to me.  I came very close to leaving. But thanks to you Tommy I saw through my frustration that the community here is what is important.  

I am so VERY THANKFUL for the people who are here on this site.  Because if it wasn't for you I would not be doing so well in my quit.  I would be suffering like I did my first two tries.  The knowledge and support that I have got from this group has saved my life.  I am a permanet EX because of you,.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  

[Madyzsgocka]

I know, with 1000% certainty, that I would not have had the strength to keep my quit had it not been for all the wonderful folks in this community. The elders, and the tech-talented folks that are helping us through the changes, are quite simply gems - gifts that we meet along in this journey called life. Life can be rough, but I believe that there still is a segment of good, helpful, honest folk out there in our society. I feel truely blessed that I found this little pocket of them, you the elders and ones that are always stepping up - you Tommy, bless you, and I thank the Lord for you all everyday.

[suzieq2]

Just wanted to say Thank You for always being here to lend an ear and a kind work  & for the Tech stuff too! 

[IrishRose]

Love you, My Sweet Pirate Man!!!

[c2q]

Tommy, when you say "thanks to those of you who hold us together," you do get that you are one of those folks, yes? Just checking. If by chance you missed it while on vacation - you are one of those folks.

[smokefreedom]

Spoken like the hero you have always been.. Thanx to you and this place

[Sootie]

As always----a wonderful blog. It is truly a community here. Sure, I guess sometimes we offend people. But , sometimes when people leave here in a "huff"---it's just an excuse to "puff". With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up we should all remember that although sometimes our families say things that hurt us---they don't mean it and they love us. The EX community family is no different!!!

[CommunityAdmin]

Like Tommy mentioned, please keep sharing with us any issues you're having as we're trying to work through them for you. We want you all to have a great experience in community and want to make it work to the best of it's ability. Thank you guys for your dedication and patience as we work through.

[Mike.n.Atlanta]

I too would like to thank all those who keep this site running like the well oiled machine that it is. Yes there are bumps & hiccups but such is life. I haven’t found the new changes intolerable at all & I know there are those in the background that endeavor to make our lives a little easier. Thanks again to those precious few.

Newbies bring a contagious enthusiasm that benefits us all. It will instill in us a desire to renew our dedication to our quits if we allow it. Watching them help each other is part of this healing process & they do it well. They remind me of how I came seeking help & where I was in my beginning. We can all young & old learn something from them. Thank you newbies for keeping my quit green.

There are those who are here grinding it out every day. With quits from 3 months to some number of years they are here. Most trying to help others “get it”, some just toughing it out until they “get it”. They refuse to give up & have committed themselves to this quit no matter what. Some are here to give back a portion of what was given them. So happy to be a non-smoker that sharing this freedom & helping others is a joy. Thanks to all who give back.

Thanks to everyone on this site. A group of like minded individuals whose common desire is freedom from this wicked addiction.

Now…thank you Tommy. The Freedom Train has been a blessing to a lot of people on this site. Everyone enjoys being recognized for a milestone no matter the length. You & your rail crew selflessly search out quit dates & monitor them closely in order to tell their story to the rest of us. Not only do we enjoy being recognized but my favorite part is watching them grow in their quits & hoping that I was a part of it. It feels good to see someone you urged along reach those milestones. You & your crew are now a necessity Tommy, we can’t get along without you. Thank you.

I urge you all to join the Freedom Train every morning to give kudos to all the days milestoners. The ticket price…just bring all your unsmoked cigarettes for the firebox, throw em in & hop on board. It’s a great ride.

Thanks again to all who reside here,
M n @

[MarcieWhosoever]

hi tommy, been sleeping a lot lately. I missed this, 

thank you for all you do here. 

love you♥

Marcie

[caribegal1]

I'd like to add my thanks not only to you but to the tech staff as well and to those folks who have propped me up.  I'm one of the ones who is "grinding through" this so I'm not sure if that means that I haven't gotten it yet.  But everyday is still a challenge and everyday I tell myself "I will not smoke today."  I try to offer some encouragement to the folks who are just quitting but I hardly feel "qualified" yet.  Again, thanks to all.

[bobbiesue]

Great blog tommy. It is so good of you to stay in contact with these people and hopefully they will come back to us one day and find their forever QUIT. You are a great asset to this site thank you Tommy for all you do!!!!

[jojo_2-24-11]

Tommy, Thank You!

[melissa131]

I just composed a message to the EX admin (which I only just recently figured out how to see their page). But it disappeared when I pushed the wrong button.

It said this is a great site, I think it is responsible for me quitting. I love all of you guys, like Mike says the Freedom train is great.

What I don't understand is why they don't just look at other forums and see how they are run. I am on a cat forum, a hobbie forum, and a medical forum. All of them have moderators. and we know who they are, it says right next to their name, some say "Senior Member" some actually say moderator. They are volunteers who do not get paid, but volunteer their time. They can remove a post if it is offensive, or spam, they write in red on posts when people cross the line. They are not a mysterious "select group" of people. It makes this site seem mysterious and hard to use.

And I really dont' think the hard to use stuff has anything to do with technical difficulties any questions I have had in those areas have been quickly answered. It's the part about when there is a bunch of Spam, or trolls and you report it, and no one responds. It is the part where people are bickering and no one steps in to moderate, hence the word "moderators". Like I said, I am kind of a forum veteran, but, when I first joined this place, I did see some pretty harsh stuff, and I was a little scared to post..But all in all some people reached out to me, and asked how i was doing and that made all the difference.

In the end quitting smoking is the goal. So perhaps this "select group of people" should be more identified so they don't feel like they are doing a thankless job for free all the time. And people feel like they have somone they can address questions and complaints to. Instead of this entitiy called Ex Admin, who never respond to anything I have ever written to them.

Thank you for listening, and sorry this came out here, but Pir8fan's post inprired me to address these questions and confusion I have had for quite some time.

And again, thank you all for being here, each and everyone of you. And I think everyone should remember that online communication is different. As we have no facial expressions to go by, or intonation of voice. Something one person might think they are saying as a joke-another person might find offensive. But like Indin Girl says, I take what I want, and leave the rest. 🙂

[ldl]

Amen sister....

[marie23]

Tommy you are just the best. And you are so right . One can never be too patient. and good things come to those that wait. I get frustrated and find something else to keep my mind peacefully occupied. I am so happy that this site is now somewhat user friendly.  Thanks for reaching out.  I just love ya.    Marie