Perk(PERK1) Makes a Year of Smoke Freedom

"If you're thinking about quitting - please do it."

Yahoo! Yippee! Wheehee!

Someone asked me by email today if there was going to be a speech. Well y'all knew of course there would be a speech :-)

So listen up you newbies LOL...here's what I've learned as I celebrate my one year anniversary as a non-smoker as of today.

I do feel some deep sense of responsibility right now, since at this time of year there will be many, many new people surfing this site and preparing their New Year resolutions.

My quit wasn't for New Years per se. It actually happened at a Christmas party with 60 people where I looked around for someone to go outside for a cigarette with me and discovered I was the only smoker left in my entire large social circle. Can we say...loser!!??

I quit a couple of days later...and haven't looked back. I'd smoked for more than twenty years, have now quit for one, and can honestly say despite that, I have a hard time remembering myself as a smoker.

Quitting was hard hard hard...yet as I've said before on here...still not quite as difficult as I'd set it up in my head to be...if that makes any sense :-) I really didn't believe I could do it. I was truly one of those people who everyone said "when Perk quits, that's when I'll quit." Well now I have done it and the two people I know who are still smokers(they missed that party last year) are on the hook for this New Years!

The best advice I can give anyone starting out for the first, third, or tenth time is...understand you can never, ever, not for a moment, not even ten years from now, ever, really I mean it!!!...have 'just one'. Knowing that has made a difference for me. It has truly made it easier than always wondering in the back of my mind when I would justify it to myself that I needed just one puff.

The other thing you'll read here is about the 7% club, of which I am now a very proud charter member. It means only 7% of those who try to quit without support, last a year. I found that a bit discouraging at first - but after watching people come and go here for a year - I have my own Perk theory on that 7% stat. I believe it's true, but that the vast majority of those who don't make it fall off in the first few days. If you last a week, you're ahead of the game. A month, you're on your way.

Everyone is different, but for me - six months turned a huge corner and now I can honestly say I haven't had a craving in months and months. I'm always on guard. That doesn't mean I'll never have another hit you upside the head craving. But I don't really expect to. I'm not waiting for it, or looking for it, or even dreading it. If it happens, it will be a few minutes and I can handle that.

Here's my final little piece of advice. Find yourself a great quit buddy. My pal Georgia will post her one year anniversary two days from now. I always remind her I'm two days ahead. :-) In the first month, I believe I would not have done this without her, and without so many others on here too numerous to name...(Michelle, Suzzz, Gaylene, Mikki, Sharon, Wile...etc.)

Finally, if you're thinking about quitting - please do it. You can do it. I breathe better, I don't cough anymore, I smell great...and I might add I've gained a grand total of four pounds which I can live with.

This week, I spent Christmas with my parents. Although I'm sure they must have known I smoked, I never did so in front of them. They are two hours away, but for 20 years, my husband and I have always made the long drive home at midnight Christmas night because I had to have a cigarette by then. This year we stayed overnight. 'Twas lovely. End of story. End of speech.

A happy smoke free New Year to all.

Perk(PERK1)

I quit smoking LAST year!(December 29th, 2002:-)