Good morning. I have been reading your posts and I came across a few that struck me about a subject that I really appreciate. But first, I want to thank the newbies. You guys just don't know the impact that you *continue* to have on me (and I suspect on other longer-quit folks as well) because you are a HUGE reminder of what I went through to get to where I am. Thank you. The courage that you are showing is awesome. Keep on keeping on!

I smoked for 25 plus years. I say "plus" because in truth I don't remember how old I was when I started smoking. I do know that it is hard to remember a me without a damn (I wanted to put in a LONG list of adjectives here such as smelly, lung-killing, etc. but I think you get my drift.) cigarette in my mouth. I had gotten to a place where I just couldn't do it anymore. My lungs hurt when I breathed, I experienced so many exertion-caused symptoms that I was continually disgusted with myself AND my grandsons turned their faces away when I tried to smooch them because I smelled so bad one time too many. I had tried to quit many times, in so many ways. I wasn't sure I was going to accomplish it this time either but I knew I had to "try" again. The problem was that the decision to quit smoking was easy but the "how to", I was to discover, was the hard part.

Time and Patience.... (I have written about these requirements a lot. And I will probably continue to write about them a lot too. That's because they produced some of the biggest lessons in my quit.) I am an impatient creature. I simply have a very difficult time waiting for results. I truly expected to quit smoking and be done with it. That's how my dad did it and that was the thinking I grew up with. Just put them down and don't smoke anymore. Easy peasy. I just couldn't imagine quitting smoking as a long term process or that it would take some work on my part as well as a *whole lot* of time and patience. I also didn't know that if I took the time to educate myself about this process, the chances of my success rose dramatically. (The gift of this newsgroup to me has been profound for that very reason.) Those things combined which didn't take place in the previous quits is probably the reason for all of my failed quits in the past.

I smoked for 25 years. How on earth could I expect my body to adjust to the lack of nicotine *just like that*? But I did. And then I learned from this newsgroup how addictive nicotine was (is). I read post after post about the struggles folks were having in giving up this addiction. And in reading the responses to those posts of struggle, I found some of them had a certain common theme. And that theme was TIME. It just took time to allow the body to reclaim itself. Period. It was not a matter of just putting down the smokes and walking away (although there will always be those folks who can. I envy them 'cause I'm not one of them.). I had to allow the time to pass which required patience on my part.

You know the results of the lack of nicotine 'cause you're experiencing some of them and you've been writing about them. Roller coaster ride, highly emotional, bitchy, brain fog, loss of concentration, anger, on and on, just to list a few. This addiction is *insidious*. Recovery is a process... and in some cases a long process. But so what? In the long run, for me it was a short price to pay for my freedom.

I really want to emphasize this part. One of the things that I have learned that I think has great value and that I feel is important enough to pass on to the next generation of quitters is to *please* allow yourself time to give your body a chance to recover. (Enjoy your meter. As you watch it grow, you get one step closer to smoke freedom and your body breathes a bit easier with each step.) The benefits of being in this place of smoke freedom made the time and patience that was required in the first six months (about) a no thing after all. In other words, the realized good for me *far outweighs* the struggle with my inherent nature of no patience. Grin.

I also discovered something else that goes hand in hand with this. In my quit, for me to accept that I needed to be patient in order to give my body a chance to recover, I had to develop the ATTITUDE of "Whatever it takes."

Whatever it takes to be smoke-free is how I got smoke-free and continue to be smoke-free. The choice that I made over a year ago is one I intend for my lifetime. Whatever it takes is how I will honor that choice. I'm not worried about losing my quit but at the same time, I plan to continue to do whatever it takes to remain smoke-free (to remain aware is the biggy). Be patient. Allow time to pass so that your body can recover. And do whatever it takes to honor your choice. I have never been sorry, no matter what I have experienced, for my choice of smoke freedom. Those no-head-turnin' smooches from my grandsons nowadays are sure sweet!!! HUGE smile here.

In continuing awe of the newbies,
Pat,
OF
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