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But like a unfaithful woman who cares nothing about you, it is for the better:

 

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Started when I was 16, I am 44. 28 years of poisoning my body and eroding my gums. It is time to say goodbye. Going to Haiti in 6 days with a no tobacco policy. The last time I flew through the trip without ever thinking about. Too busy and too blessed at the time for it to cross my mind. Had it waiting and enjoyed the first day back from the trip. Not this time. I am determined to quit.

 

A few prayers for those who pray and a little accountability from those who have quit would be much appreciated.

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I've paid for every one of my guns and accessories, and many thousands of rounds of ammo by not smoking for the last 35 years.

 

Yes I do look at it like that.  I think about that pretty much every time I see somebody light up.

 

It's never too late.

 

My mother died at 63 from lung cancer.  I am convinced she'd still be with us if she hadn't smoked from age 14.

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DS, I am sorry to hear about your mom, and thank you for sharing that. I consider myself a very strong man in mental fortitude and conviction. There has not been much in life that has beaten me. I have overcome nearly everything that I have set my mind to. Everything but nicotine addiction. It is tough. Had it beat for 6 months one time and all it took was a bad day and a moment of weakness.

 

The financial motivation should, but admittedly does not, influence me the way it should. It is more personal to me. I have allowed something to have control over my life that ultimately is destructive. It is only a matter of time before I hear the "c" word myself if I continue down this path.

 

Thank you all for the motivation and support.

Edited by Spacehog
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It sounds like you are ready for the hard fight. You need to want to quit more than you want the nicotine. You can do it, but you have to want it. You have to want it. 

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Believe me, quitting alcohol isn't anywhere as tough as quitting tobacco. Gave up the booze 30+ years ago and never looked back either, but I'll be damned if I can leave the coffin nails alone. If you want to do it you will. I'm rooting for you and so will a lot of others.

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If it isn't yet, coffee will become your new best friend. I smoked and drank a little in school but fortunately for me, never acquired the taste for either. Now coffee and red heads.....that's a different story.

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Growing up in and out of alaska, copenhagen and skoal were popular facts of life. I know of at least 4 boats named "Skoal."  I will be happy to see it go. One of the guys who crewed with us used to spit it at my boots when dad wasn't around. I was a kid at the time. So I let him see several unopened rolls of cans float off, and still don't feel sorry about that other than the littering. It was about $12/can in Bristol Bay in the mid 90s... it's just nasty stuff to be around, but still preferable to breathing in smoke.

 

A guy I knew as a kid who had also worked for dad lost most of his face to jaw cancer too. I'd love to see companies that live off of this go broke. 

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I was the first basic training class under the no tobacco policy.  Being forced to quit when you don't want to just addicts you further.  Forced to give up a full stringer and wasn't even reimbursed for the Federal tax paid.

 

Started at 14, still going at 48.

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I smoked, dipped, did drugs of all sorts and almost drank myself to death from 11-27

I quit smoking & dipping several times for short periods here and there, but always relapsed for one reason or another.

The latter two were always with me.

 

When I started skydiving I had issues with oxygen deprivation when above 8K MSL for more than 15 minutes.

That is problematic for an addict personality who has discovered an incredible new drug and it is as passionately in love with it as any man has been with a woman.

I managed to quit by asking God for help with my weakness, it was like turning a light off, my addiction simply stopped.

I've never had the urge to smoke again, never missed it on bit. The power of the Lord is immense, ask and ye shall receive.

My body rid itself of all sorts of nasty crap from my lungs, inside of three months I no longer had a problem below 10k MSL.

Another 3 months and I no longer had a problem of any sort. 

 

But I was still smoking pot, snorting meth and drinking myself to death.

Those vices too, soon came to a screeching halt.

Took the love of a woman to do that, and that woman was sent by God to help guide me.

I begged him to let me love and be loved by this woman.

She soon said she loved me, but not my addictions, that it hurt her to see me hurt myself and that she could not live with that.

Again I sought strength from the Lord, and again I was given it.

Later, a little over a year of living clean, that woman & I were joined for all time and eternity.

 

Does anyone see a pattern here?

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  • 1 month later...

Officially one month done! Every day sucks, and I have haven't had a single day where I haven't said, "a dip would be so good right now", Here is my reward: An almost new Bulgarian 5.45 matching numbers parts kit with plum furniture. Don't know what I will do with it yet. Build it or rob it for parts. Likely build it:

 

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The Mrs has told me to buy something firearms related for each month I remain tobacco free through the first year. Annually after that. Ummmmm yes please! I can definitely do this!

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Officially one month done! Every day sucks, and I have haven't had a single day where I haven't said, "a dip would be so good right now", Here is my reward: An almost new Bulgarian 5.45 matching numbers parts kit with plum furniture. Don't know what I will do with it yet. Build it or rob it for parts. Likely build it:

 

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The Mrs has told me to buy something firearms related for each month I remain tobacco free through the first year. Annually after that. Ummmmm yes please! I can definitely do this!

 

Well done! If you are doing this every month, it might be worth buying the flat bending tools. You'll have a Bulgarian Arsenal. Err, wait hmm.

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Great job Spacehog! The cravings will never go away, but you can handle it.

The cravings can and often do go away.

When something is not a part of your body and mind, no longer a habit or desire.

There is no longer a craving.

I have zero cravings for any of my old vices.

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The key is to stay busy. I have used that tactic for losing smoking and the loss of my daughter. Also, the more tired you are the easier it is to go to sleep and stop thinking about how good a dip would be ;) The hardest part is going into and out of a convenience store without succumbing to the Great Wall of Tobacco.

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First 3 weeks are the hardest! 

I quit my beloved cigars last year when the wife had her heart attack. She had to quit the cigarettes, so I gave up the cigars. 

She is a lot more precious to me! - still miss a cigar now and then, but not bad enough to go back to them!!!!

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You're going to freak out! Chew is harder than smoking to quit. I highly suggest you get some mint snus to help you out.

 

If you take the nicotine pills or patches you will just fork over money to the pharmaceutical companies and start up again.

 

I wish you the best of luck. I could never quit. I just picked the lesser of all the nicotine evils, General Snus from Sweden.

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You've got the support of a wife who wants you to win, in more ways than one. Given that alone, you got this. We're just here for pictures of the prizes.

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Great job Spacehog! The cravings will never go away, but you can handle it.

The cravings can and often do go away.

When something is not a part of your body and mind, no longer a habit or desire.

There is no longer a craving.

I have zero cravings for any of my old vices.

You haven't hit the trigger yet

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Great job Spacehog! The cravings will never go away, but you can handle it.

The cravings can and often do go away.

When something is not a part of your body and mind, no longer a habit or desire.

There is no longer a craving.

I have zero cravings for any of my old vices.

You haven't hit the trigger yet

 

Been two decades, I've been around all my old friends and family, some of whom have drank/used in front of me.

I don't think there is a trigger for me at this point, and I've other vices now taking their place, good clean adrenaline, 100% natural.

And I also have literally thousands of dollars a year to spend on things that aren't fleeting pleasures.

The time I've accumulated, my wife and family, my covenants with God... Nothing worth breaking those bonds.

A matter of pride now  ^^^

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I spent the 4th with some friends, and some cans of griz and cope came out. I had a few swamp nuggets, but oddly enough I didn't really enjoy it this time around. Don't really know why, but I don't really have the desire to do it anymore for some reason.

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Quit a dozen times over thirty years, always ended up backsliding. Finally quit smoking in 2009 cold turkey. Really bad case of pneumonia can do that to you. Started having cravings a few weeks later but a friend introduced me to e-cigs and I haven't been tempted to to light up again even though most of the folks I know smoke. On the other hand, Jack and I were close friends for most of my life. When I was put on warfarin and warned that alcohol would cause problems we never spoke again ( bottle on the corner of my desk slowly  evaporating away since '10 ).

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