Gaylene and Mikki Reach One Year Smoke Free

"We Hung in There, and WE FEEL GREAT!"

From your About.com Guide to Smoking Cessation, Terry Martin: This article was written by two people, Gaylene(DADMONT) and Mikki(lvsprettyponies). They started their smoking cessation journey on the same day, and found each other at our forum. They have become close friends, and will very likely stay that way for life. Bravo to the both of you!

(Mikki)
A year ago today, Gaylene and I decided to give up our cigarettes, found the forum, and discovered each other. We had both run into some lung problems and we were scared. Scared of the problems, but, also it was SO scary to quit. How were we going to get through the next hours, let alone a whole day(?), month(?), forever?? It was hard to even think about it. We posted on the forum and found new friends. We could read advice from wiser, further along in their quit folks, or commiserate with people just starting out, like us. Oh, we were understood by our non-smoking friends and family too...("You quit last week, didn't you? Are you still having a struggle?...Geez, get over yourself.") LOL. Those first days Gaylene was running around with a caramel apple sucker in her mouth, and I was drinking everything out of a straw(because it felt about the same width as a cig). I had to get the 20oz mocha, and even with that, I could polish it off in ten minutes flat. Gaylene came up with some great new forum verbiage. She started using "win" instead of "quit". We became the "blonde babes", and she referred to us as "warriors" who were conquering the evil cigs, which we still are. Gaylene also came up with "I love to breathe" for her personal statement, and boy do we! We're not lying in our beds at night with a funny(not to mention frighteningly scary) pressure in our chests anymore. We stopped coughing and can walk up a hill without becoming short of breath. We can go to a movie or other non-smoking event without thinking with a "smoke calculator" (let's see, if I smoke right before I go into the show, the show's 2 1/2 hrs, ah oh, that's a long time, maybe more fun to rent a movie, then I can RELAX!!!).

Remember, every craving you get past will build your confidence. If I get a craving and can't take "to my bed" for example, it does help me to just take five, close my eyes, and take a few deep breaths. Just concentrate on slowly breathing in and out, and also count my blessings that I CAN BREATHE. Once you get past a craving, there is a feeling of euphoria that's worth all the misery. I also PLAN a little quiet time before a stressful event, such as a gathering at the house or a customer at work. I used an hour a day to smoke...I've got that time to spare. Helps a bunch!