The Season Is Changing! The Season is Changing!

[YoungAtHeart]

Ladybug--7-3-12 reminded me that the seasons changing might surprise you with thoughts of smoking.  If you have quit in the past two years (and sometimes even if it's been longer), you might be surprised by a random thought that you want to smoke.  You have to get through two years of seasons changing, holidays, family gatherings and celebrations.  You don't yet have a lot of practice relearning these events as an ex-smoker, so it stands to reason you might think about smoking when you experience them.

Be prepared, not alarmed!  Perfectly normal in the course of your quit.  Just a shake of the head and maybe a deep breath is all that is required to stay quit for the long haul.

Nancy

[Maki]

While I respect other people and all quit smoking sites views , for me  1 season changed everything the 2nd season  was a breeze . That is my personal experience . 

Never fear losing your quit if you are firm with your nope and then you can relax ... you will not lose your quit . 

I hated when I started my quit and old timers feared me into this thinkng that I always had to be on guard , I was always tense waiting for that surprise visit and could never relax thinking I had to be always on this guard or preparedness they were talking about . It was a Halloween nightmare that haunted me .  Often I wanted to give up my quit because the fear that this would never be over , stressed me . Would I always think of smokers my ?  I understood the words easily dismissed but I didn't understand understand in reality what easily dismissed meant to my quit , because I hadn't experienced it yet. Not until it clicked and it took 4 seasons for me not eight seasons . I believe everyone is different and it might be different for the next . It's easy to say two years or one year when you are quit that long , but as a newbie it frightened me because I was just fighting day to day to survive. 

Just as Nancy mentioned though be prepared , it happens , but there is nothing to fear , remember nope at all times. 

Get through successfully  one day at a time or by thinking ahead whatever works for you . Don't let the seasons ahead of you change your goal . Keep in mind your reasons . They are valid and important because their yours . Keep your nope always . 

[AnnetteMM]

This Christmas I'll have been quit 3 years. Right now, as the air gets cooler and smells like leaves, I want to smoke more than I have ever wanted during the past two years. It's the reality of holidays without family, of daily life becoming more and more alone indoors, and of the novelty of zoom visits wearing way too thin. I think my brain, in searching for comfort, is automatically returning to past times of loneliness when smoking gave me an imitation of company. I have to PURPOSELY and CONSCIOUSLY remind my brain that smoking is gross, causes disease, will make me wheeze, and creates a whole new batch of problems for me.  The feelings persist, but I have tools to deal with them.

[Strudel]

Thanks Nancy! 

[indingrl]

Nancy

[elvan]

I never smoked in the house & fall & spring were my absolute favorite seasons to sit outside on the deck & smoke. I can certainly feel a light pull when l go outside & sit with the feral cat. 
Ellen

[sweetplt]

YoungAtHeart Ah yes...and a beautiful autumn day Nancy, fall is in the air.  Neil and I walked everywhere today, however, this afternoon we drove to a car dealership and while we were walking around looking at cars, I smelled that smoke wafting in the air and it smelled good.  I couldn’t believe it.  I haven’t thought it smelled good in some time.  I told hubs and he said, “that smells disgusting”...LOL...so we laughed and walked away.  Good reminder on the season changes. 

Have a great evening...Colleen 684 DOF 

[meWisconsin]

After walking out of the woods from hunting I still think how nice it used to be to just sit and enjoy a smoke. Six years smoke free and these thoughts still pop up from time to time. Of course I will never know how many deer I scared away because I smell like cigarette smoke. Not these days though.

Terry

[Maki]

Annette , it sounds to me like you are creating the thoughts much more than the season changing affecting your thoughts . You got through the first season of changes , meaning we smoked differently each season and for different reasons, heck you got  through two seasons too , your thoughts now seem more to me circumstantial and you are relating it back to the seasons . 

I can easily if I wanted to use my seclusion , the pandemic , whatever, an argument  to have thoughts of smoking but I choose not to . I can choose to smoke because it's cold outside , my ninth year free of smoking outside but I don't , those thoughts past after my first year of seasons quit . 

Will a thought come again ? Who knows maybe, maybe not , but I just don't fixate on it , dwell on it , expect it ,or fear it . It's not because of the season I would have a thought it would be because of old memories and thoughts . 

Every site had had its own idea come from somewhere .  Our old Q said four seasons , here I came someone had the idea two seasons . Neither are wrong , both came from someone's experience . The addictions recovery group I attended years before inquit said one season to get through most of the triggers , that was my experience . Did I not have thoughts after of course I did , but easily dismissed . Of course when I was early in my quit I questioned what easily dismissed meant , I didn't realize how easily . I still had fear until I surpassed that year . 

This is just my ipinion , not necessarily right . 

[Barbscloud]

The seasons changing and thoughts of smoking associated with them are real for me.   I'm happy I learned about this in advance and it's something new quitters should be aware of.  

Barb

[AnnetteMM]

Well, thanks so very much for your opinion. In my opinion, feelings are never wrong. 

And no one gets to assign meanings to mine but me.

But again, thanks for your thoughts.

[Giulia]

I've recently had a couple of instances when I had a sudden craving.  Can't say it's because of the change of season necessarily, after 14 years' worth of them, (more likely a need for that 'reward' cigarette after a job completed).  But seasonal changes can definitely be a trigger and it's a good reminder, Nancy.  Especially for those who are encountering them for the first time.