I'm Yukpa hashi. I am.... Aho.

What an interesting week I have had. I am unable to sleep tonight so I thought I'd spend some time with you.

Last Tuesday, I was walking and I saw all of these Moms holding hands with their children as they walked them to school. It was the first day of school I was to find out. Both the moms and the kids had big smiles. The kids had smiles because they were going to school with new clothes, new shoes and they were headed off on an adventure. The Moms.... well, I am not sure if I truly heard this but I could have sworn I heard this huge collective shout coming from all over my town.... and that it was the mom's going, Yippee! The kids are back in school!! Smile.

And then I had my quilter's group over here on Thursday night and come to find out, a couple of my friends were like me, we hated to see our kids go back to school and would have preferred to continue to play s'more. Surely we could squeeze in another fishing trip or another trip to the museum before we had to give them up?

Different points of view.

This morning, I went out walking in my brand new walking shoes. I decided that I needed a good pair of shoes if I was going to continue walking as much as I have. And believe it or not, I hope to walk more so I went out and invested in a good pair of shoes especially designed for walking. While I was in the store trying on different brands of shoes, I had a lady walk up and ask for my opinion on some shoes she wanted to buy. She had a bunch of new clothes (seems this 40 something lady is going back to school to learn computers. Good for her.) and didn't know what shoes looked good with the new clothes. (Actually her excitement about going off to college was the very same excitement I saw on those young faces earlier in the week. It was great!) The young sales clerk was nearby and she choose the shiny pair while I pointed to the more practical pair. Smile. The end to that story? She didn't buy any of our suggestions. She decided the pair of shoes that she had at home would work just fine.

Differences of opinion, with her not taking my opinion at all! Wow.... what? Really? Hummm......

I was working at the fabric store for the last week and a half. I actually enjoyed myself. I found I loved being around the fabric and the crafts and learning new stuff. The manager of the store hired a bunch of us to help restock the store. We were all different ages and backgrounds. I was talking with a few of those that had worked there during this time, telling them that there is a good chance that I will go to work there full time after I get back from Vision Quest when one of my friends spoke up and said, What? She went on to explain how she had hated the work and could hardly wait until her commitment was over. She didn't understand how I could go to work there, let alone enjoy the grunt work that we had just completed. I smiled at her. I could understand where she was coming from but for me, I had fun and I'd like to go back and learn some more. I probably will.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Mr. T. found me argumentative this week. Imagine that! Me? And here I thought all I was doing was *expressing* my point of view. Hummm....

I have also expressed a difference of opinion in this newsgroup this week. My expression of my opinion may or may not have been handled badly by me but my point is, that when Kelly spoke up and said she didn't want to post her views because she didn't want to cause a "ruckus", well, that stopped me and made me think about expression and differences of opinion and how everybody in our newsgroup needs to feel they have a place here where they can share what is going on for them and that it is not only OK but it is encouraged.

I will probably say this many, many more times before I finally leave here that it is important to express what you are doing and how you are handling your quit. Express your points of view, what is working for you, the emotions that quitting brings up, all of it. All of the facets of quitting are bits of information that someone might find valuable in some way. Some of you are not so shy and are probably wondering why I would even need to say or encourage this. Of course, you would tell us everything down to wanting your wife to dress up as a cigar. (Frank AKA Cameron..... I will never forget this. Ever. It still brings a belly laugh.) You don't have a problem in speaking up. Well, I for one, straight up, appreciate you. But there are many who are much more shy. It is to them that I encourage to speak up most of all. And to the one who asked if my jokes belonged in this newsgroup, where did you go? Come back and tell us why you think humor *doesn't* belong in this newsgroup. Discussing different points of view lead to a fuller understanding of what is happening to us in this learning to live without nicotine. And information for me helps to ease the confusion that comes when I don't know what is going on with me.

So speak up. Continue to share what is happening in your quit. Don't be shy like me, eh? .........who out there said, No comment! Speak up!

Yukpa hashi ------>>>>>>> passing the talking stick... and I truly hope you will pick it up and say your piece....
Pat/Laughing Moon/Gaire Solas/Yareakh Tzokheq/budette