Open Letter to the Newbies

I was just thinking after running into my quit brother, Franz, here recently in the newsgroup, I haven't seen anyone talk about finding someone (or several someones) to walk the walk with lately. If you read the posts, you'll find the 1199'ers, the Blue Mooners, The Halloweeners, my quit coach, ddSteve and his quit partner, Jacque, are the Daredevils (and they are VOF's now!!), and I know there are other groups out there as well. That's because finding someone else who is travelling the same road as you and e-mailing one another at least daily to begin with is a *powerful* quit tool. So, since I can't sleep, I thought I'd pass on some thoughts on the subject.

Back when I quit, I became part of a group of new quitters who had all quit about the same time as me and we called ourselves the 5/25'ers. We have e-mailed each other almost daily ever since. When one of us was sad, we had 6 other sets of hands to reach for. When one of us was happy, we could share our news and KNOW we had 6 other smiles to add to our own. One of the best parts was having six other friends who were experiencing the very same thing that I was experiencing to share with and to talk to. We also learned from one another how to handle the hard times. (I have told this story before. I hope it is ok with Frank that I tell it again. I didn't know how to deal with the quit anger I was feeling. My quit buddy, Frank, wrote right back and told me how he handled anger. He gave me a long list of things to try. So I tried his suggestions and got past many angry moments with a smile actually, because I knew where the hints had come from. From my quit brother, Frank. And I was grateful. Go Frank!!!) Having others in my group go through their own quit depression has also allowed me to not feel so all alone in mine. Having my group to reach out to has made all the difference in my quit. It has been one of my greatest gifts in this process of quitting smoking. We have shared not only the joy and the pain of gaining our smoke freedom together, but we have now become a second family to one another. I can't imagine having traveled this road without them. That is truth.

My point in bringing this up to you is to show you how wonderful a small quit group can be AND how valuable as well. Buddy up! Find someone who is quitting or has quit near your quit date. Exchange e-mail addys and start writing.... AND start sharing your Quit Tools, your Quit Lists and your friendship. It's really great to have someone to walk the walk with. And it's another gift you can give yourself.

One other thought.... Our group was fortunate enough to have ddSteve be our "advisor" for a while. It could not hurt to ask a long term quitter if they would be a part of your e-mail group. There's usually lots of insights and wisdom that they can share with you about the process. They can help to guide you, if you need it; and they'll answers questions, if you got 'em. Smile.

Thanks for lettin' me talk a bit.

I LOVE my 5/25'ers! What other groups are out there? Please speak up and count off!!!

Pat, Proud 5/25'er who's wondering where the thousand bucks went. That new kite was NOT that expensive. Smile.
Nine months, three weeks, four days, 9 hours, 50 minutes and 31 seconds. 6028 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,000.82. Life saved: 2 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes.