My state capital has proposed a no-smoking city ordinance, of which I agree. I simply just don't get it, for instance workers get more smoke breaks, while non-smokers pick up the slack. Also, non-smokers are getting lung cancer. My grandmother died a young sixty of lung complications, we could have enjoyed her another 20+ years, as she could her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Also, I can't help to worry about the lost time, but the money, does the cost of smoking outweigh the cost of a life? Please excuse my preachyness!

gimster,
Those are stomach-turning pictures you got there!!!
If they don't do the trick, nothing will.
Ciao for now,
B. Rose

Here's food for thought. A couple years ago, I had acupuncture to help curb some harsh lower limb pain. There were people at that doctor's office using acupuncture as a method to help them kick the smoking habit. Just thought I'd pass that on, in-case there are those who hadn't thought along those lines. Whatever works. Use it.
Prayers 'n blessings,
B. Rose

Those pictures are absolutely awful. Thanks for sharing them. WOW! I haven't seen anything like that in years. Isn't it sad what we do to ourselves?

Wow, Gimster, thanks for sharing those. I'm a victim of the addiction and it is really heart wrenching in addition to heart killing to see what my addiction is doing to me. Wow! Pray for me, please, as I attempt, yet again, to gain control of a chemical addiction that has its' deepest vices in my lungs, literally.

Smoking is a horrible, horrible addiction. I know. I've been smoking for around 35 years, having started at the age of 12 or 13. I've managed to quit three times (once for 8 months and twice for 3 months), and am in the process of trying to begin the process again. I just can't seem to get started this time. It's a love/hate relationship with me. I love to smoke/I hate to smoke. I think part of me is also scared that if I do quit, I'll end up with lung cancer shortly afterwards. I know that makes no sense, but that's part of my problem with it.

I've also learned how powerful of an addiction it really is. Nobody in their right mind other than an addict would continue to smoke after what I've been through. At the age of 28 and approximately two years later, I suffered spontaneous lung collapses (pneumothorax) of my left lung. The second time it happened, I required lung surgery where they cauterized all the holes in my lung and moved my lung over (pleurectomy and thoracotomy). Did I quit? No. Tell me that's not addiction.

Honestly, for the most part, I'm very happy with who I am and what I've become -- but my biggest frustration with myself is my seeming inability to conquer my health and fitness concerns. Perhaps "conquer" isn't the correct word, because I can't even begin -- which is what landed me at this forum to begin with -- I was looking for a coach or SOMETHING in my area to get me motivated to make real changes in my life in that department.

My mother was a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with emphysema approximately three years ago. She quit cold turkey. I really admire her and the changes she has made in her life, but at the same time -- it makes me feel worse that I can't seem to get going in the right direction. Ugh.

Perhaps we need a smokers anonymous group here -- where we can all choose a quit date and be accountable and available to each other. I don't know. I'm running out of ideas with this.

I just found a poem I wrote in the fifth day of my second quit attempt. If it's okay, I would love to post it here. Perhaps it might help somebody. If this isn't a good place to post it, please point me to where would be a good spot.

Of course, I need to pull this out and read it every day. For some reason, once I wrote it -- I put it aside and didn't look at it after the first few days.

ET, please post it if you think it will help someone.

Have you asked yourself why you want to quit? Maybe that will help you on your journey. Do you want to quit to be healthier, because it's disgusting, it's expensive, etc. Perhaps if you make a list of all the reasons, it might motivate you to take the next step. I know there are other smolers here who may be intersted in supporting you. SOme women have done this accountability thing with each other in here already.

Dotsie: All those reasons and more. I could sure use an accountability thing with anybody who is interested. So far, I'm not doing very well with this. Here's my poem (which I am reading every day now). I hope it is helpful to somebody (including myself).

DEVOTION/ILLUSION

I devoted so many years of my life to you
and didn’t think I could live without you.
I would have done anything to be with you
or stopped doing anything to spend time with you.

I would have walked miles,
driven hours,
begged complete strangers just to have a moment with you.

I shared everything with you:
my moments of glory
my times of defeat,
laughter and tears,
success and failure.
There wasn’t anything I kept from you.

You were my greatest strength.
My driving force.
My first thought in the morning…
My last at night.
You sustained me.

Or so I thought.

In reality, you were choking the life out of me
Literally and figuratively.

You were a crutch… something to lean on
until my real strength emerged.

An excuse to be used
until the force of reality
could begin to crush the weakness.

An evil ruler
trying to keep me a prisoner
until your forces could extinguish my life.

You have won many battles…
but you are not as strong as you think.
Although you will continue to be a mighty warrior
deserving of my attention and respect…
I want you to know
that I intend to win the war.


Written by EvilTwin/Judy
July 8, 2003
Third Serious Quit Attempt

ET, I don't knkow how I've missed this every time I've logged on lately. This is a great poem. HOw long ago did you write it?

Any luck with cutting back?