well hello zeplin and congratulations on deciding to quit. I am on day 19, the longest i have ever ever gone without smoking and i feel pretty good.

this is also my second attempt at quitting. the difference between that quit and this one is the mind set i am in. Last time, i thought that once i got the nicotine out of my system, the rest would be easy but what i didn't realize at the time was that detoxing from nicotine was the easy part, retraining my brain and how i deal with every day experiences, stress, etc without nictine was going to be the hardest part of my battle.

so this time, i'm a lot smarter thanks to the wonderful people here. i envision a concrete wall between me and cigarettes.

yeah, you may go out with friends and one may offer you one but you have to remember that you have a choice to either take it and smoke or not. it's your choice but i can tell you,my last quit, i rationalized that one couldn't hurt....well, one led to two, two led to three, then a pack, then a carton and the pride i felt at being able to quit went to huge disappointment in myself.

it's your quit, no one can make any choices for you. they can tempt you but it's your choice and decision and only yours in the end whether to smoke or not. i will say that in the early days of my quit, i stayed away from the places where i would smoke. i had to change my routine so that i would not be tempted but the further i get into this, i realize that i can't isolate myself from everything. i eventually had to be around people i talk to on a daily basis who smoke and now, 19 days into it, i can honestly say that i don't want one. i have got a mind set now that smoking is not an option and failure is not an option here.

i wish you the best of luck with this. it's hard but it's so worth it in the end. stay close to ds the next few days...drink lots and lots of water, do the pledge and roll call cause that helps me a lot to realize that i am not alone...... keep busy. good luck!!!!

those words were really encouraging. this my first time I'm sharing a problem of mine with other people and I've never realised that It could help this much.I was invited to go out few minutes ago and this will be a nice challange for me to see how will I act.I wonder a lot my friends reactions when I told them I stopped smoking and I'll remmember your words every minute. I'm sure they will say that I will fail but I won't care.
i wish you the best of luck too sambod all the best and thanks for your guidence

Sambod is right on. Mind set is everything. Be positive in your quit, you can do this. Tell your friends you quit and you want their support if they don't support you there not really your friends. I have had to give up drinking because I crave way too much. Decide what your boundaries are, what you can handle at his point of your quit. Good luck.

Welcome Zeplin- protecting 'your' quit is important at the beginning. I avoided going places my first month or so where I knew people would be smoking or where cigarettes would be available. This was what I had to do for me. My very best friend in the world still smokes and we went on a vacation together at about 6 weeks into my quit. She was totally respectful of my quit and didn't smoke anywhere around me. I kept tootsie-pops in my purse for hard moments when I felt weak- it helped. You can't control other people- only yourself. So stay true to your course of quitting and be armed with something like gum or tootsie-pops that can help. You will be so proud of yourself everytime you say NO to smoking- and then each time there after it gets easier.

One more thing you have to instill in your brain is- We are nicotine addicts!!! we can NEVER have just one. One will start the addiction cycle all over again. NOPE=not one puff ever!!!

Welcome zeplin and congrats on your decision to quit! If you feel uncomfortatable going out where others will be smoking, then maybe you should pass on a night out with friends. If you think that you'll be ok, then by all means go and enjoy yourself! You just have to know that you are stronger than the addiction. If someone offers you a smoke tell them proudly, "No thank you. I quit." and then chew a piece of gum. Just keep telling yourself SMOKING IS NO LONGER AN OPTION! You can do this!

Hi and welcome zeplin. Sounds like you have a strong desire to quit, that's good. You have to remember you are the one in control, if you can't control going out with your friends, then pass, until you can handle it. This is not hard for some people. You know you, so always, protect your quit no matter what.

Sounds like you will do fine, commit to your quit and stay in control. Do pledge each day if you can, it really helps in the support, for yourself as well as others.

Try to avoid the triggers as long as you can. When you do go out with friends, tell them you quit and ask them to please not offer you any. If you wait a couple of weeks your sense of smell will be remarkable and you won't want to be around stinky smoke. You have a good attitude and that in itself is a huge help. Just keep telling yourself you can do it and you don't do that anymore!

hi zeplin the problem with"just one" is that it very rarely stays at that.Also it may make you feel good as you are smoking it but you only feel worse afterwards.Believe me,I know.I hope you can refrain from doing that cos you will feel so good about yourself if you can say no and stick to it.Good luck,ou can do it x

Hey Zeplin.

As we all know, smoking is a deadly addiction. Just one works for people who are not addicted. To an addict - one is never enough. Maybe the first time you fall off the wagon, you may very well have "just one" ....but rest assured, within no time, all addicts are quickly back to where they left off....or worse! Addiciton is a progressive disease and the 'demon' continues to grow and worsen even while we are abstaining. It waits for the opportunity to be let out of its 'cage' and once we take the first puff - all bets are off!!! The demon is back in charge and you are allowing yourself to be killed - one stick at a time.

I was told that to save my life, I had to make the decision not go anywhere, do anything or hang out with anyone -if it might threaten my quit. Sounds drastic but if you are already thinking and worrying about a situation -my guess is it might be best to avoid it - at least during the early days of the quit.

Trust your instincts. In my case, if i am uncomfortable about an upcoming event and not sure if I can handle it - then I already know my answer - "don't go.' I err on the side of caution and don't put myself in harm's way!

Early in our quit, we need to be gentle with ourselves to give ourselves time to heal from this addiction. This is no time for us to be a martyr and prove that we can get through anything ok.

Once you are well-grounded in your quit - I'm sure you can safely go anywhere, with anyone and do anything - if your motives are pure (i.e. you know that the potential opportunity to smoke is not subconsciously influencing your desire to do something). If you have a good reason to be anywhere - even if there is smoking - you will be ok if you are solid in your recovery.
However, I think you might be putting yourself at risk to go out into a drinking/smoking situation as this point. To go out where there will be drinking and people smoking - who knows whether the booze might impair your judgment. Regardless of whether or not your friends offer you cigarettes and regardless of whether or not they support your quit - the real question is: if you have had a few drinks and a pack of smokes is sitting on the bar in front of you - are you certain that you be ok to resist? Moreover, even if you do resist - will you become agitated and upset. Sometimes having to white knuckle through tough situations only frustrates us and puts our quit in jeopardy. So even though we might make it through a tough night, we are feeling emotionally beaten and might not be strong enough to endure the next challenging situation.

This early stage shall pass. I will pass along what was suggested to me and that is to treat yourself like someone who is healing from an injury. Be gentle and keep yourself safe till you are stronger.

Whatever you choose to do - good luck in your quit. We are all here for you.
God bless.
Love~ RW

WELCOME TO THE GROUP! and congrats on your decision to quit..check out this link first of all...more great reading and motivation..
http://dailystrength.org/groups/good-posts
also, when breaking the addiction to nicotine, it is usually neccessary to change up your routine in order to avoid temptation or to avoid putting yourself in a "slip" situation. some believe that you shouldnt have to change your lifestyle, but i found that for ME...I HAD TO OR I WOULD FAIL. which for me meant no alcohol and no chatting on the phone...this was temporary (but i still havent had a drink by choice...) and once my quit was more stable, i started introducing the phone back into my life..LOL. smoking is an addiction to nicotine and is much harder to overcome than people think. the withdrawal and cravings can be so damn strong that you feel like you are gonna loose it...so you MAY want to explain nicely to your friends that you are trying to quit and that you would love their support..perhaps they could refrain from offering you one or find time to hang out with you in a nonsmoking/nonalcohol time or place? (at least for now..) quitting is a process...a process of detox, then retraining your brain to live daily life without self medicating with a cig. cigs dont calm you down (they are a stimulant after all), they only make you FEEL like they calm you down because your body has recieved the drug it is so strongly addicted to...so you can do this!!!!! check in to roll call and pledge everyday and let us know how you are doing!!!

What you wrote Lovmy2 was great!!!! You hit it on the head my friend.