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The Power of Imagination

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 880

moss Post by all means...You will find, and perhaps already have found, that the act of writing down the thoughts and even half thoughts is helpful. I tell you there where times when this site and the opportunity to share and clarify my thoughts about addiction kept me clean. I am the type of person who expresses outwardly. I rarely fear sounding foolish or silly. However, in this particular enterprise (overcoming cigarette smoking) I am very much alone. There is no one in my immediate circle with whom I can exchange ideas on the subject. So I carry on a sort of Socratic dialogue with my journal and periodically put up a post that I think carrys universal ideas or themes. You are correct, I believe, in your comment that we all share certain commonalities with regard to the addiction. One of those is that there are real reasons that brought us to cigarettes in the first instance. For me it was a sort of lonliness and sense of isolation in my younger years. I do not mean lonliness in the sense of lacking company. I mean it in the way of feeling a longing for a home that is only partially known. That sort of place in the heart that is only half remembered and can only be glimpsed with a side-long glance...Hard to describe...But the point is we must understand that quitting is not just not doing something (not smoking). It is a process of gently bring oourselves to understand our motivation for needing to smoke. And then teaching ourselves that we really do not need to carry on that behavior in order to exist on the planet. We can face our demons with a "naked sould" and work through the situations that cause us anxiety without destroying our bodies. I don't know about you, but I figure I want to hang around for a while, just to see what happens... Your doing well, I am sure that you are not always so confident of that fact on a day to day basis. But with practice you soon will be. Your confidence will grow you right to 100 days and beyond... nonic [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]12/25/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 352 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 10,560 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $3,696.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 64 [B]Hrs:[/B] 8 [B]Mins:[/B] 1 [B]Seconds:[/B] 30

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$71,211.00

Amount Saved
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Days: 1559 Hours: 3

Minutes: 2 Seconds: 18

Life Gained
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6782

Smoke Free Days
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203,460

Cigarettes Not Smoked

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 735

Great post Nonic! I read this yesterday and have been thinking about it since. I re-read this today and have gained even more from your post. Thank you. G P.S. would this fall under the logic of "perception is reality"? Or am I totally off of my rocker? [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/21/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 144 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,320 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $691.20 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 14 [B]Hrs:[/B] 10 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 27

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3207

Thanks once again, nonic, for making me think about the deeper realms of this process. It does all lead back to the soul, doesn't it? So, the recreating part of the imagining, I guess, would be in the remembering of a basic healthiness of spirit and body, going back to how we were meant to be? moss, good job, and yes 100 days can seem far away..although it really isn't :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 264 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 10,560 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1,795.20 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 36 [B]Hrs:[/B] 20 [B]Mins:[/B] 49 [B]Seconds:[/B] 32

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3541

Nail meets head, again, nonic! Thoughtful, inspiring, & bang on true as always. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]5/13/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 212 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,240 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2,332.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 21 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 18 [B]Seconds:[/B] 22

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 649

It is for that very reason that I find myself hesitant to post my experience, let alone advice, sometimes. But having said that, the more I read from everyone here leads me to believe that we all have more similarities than differences. From the JFDI's to the deep-thinkers and the in-betweeners, we all share some form of the mental struggle that comes along with quitting smoking. I've been imagining the number 100 below my name. It feels miles away but I also imagine that's a pretty normal feeling right now. Moss [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]11/19/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 22 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 330 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $57.75 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 17 [B]Mins:[/B] 30 [B]Seconds:[/B] 48

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 880

Bluecloud The case could well be made that all knowledge is imagined, as we must strain all of our facts through the sieve of our own perceptions and whose to say that my sieve is identical to another's...That which I would percieve or reason to be true would always be slightly altered by my personal sieve...This is all rather ify stuff. but I so enjoy playing with ideas...In any case thank you for the compliment...I am so proud of your accomplishments...You have struggled hard to attain this quit...I remember your first days here and your posts now sound so much more hopeful...The change is very striking... Stay well and quit nonic [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]12/25/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 350 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 10,500 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $3,675.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 63 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 25 [B]Seconds:[/B] 11

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$71,211.00

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 1559 Hours: 3

Minutes: 2 Seconds: 19

Life Gained
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6782

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

203,460

Cigarettes Not Smoked

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1356

you are so damn good at that Nonic. wow. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]5/3/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 221 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,210 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $386.75 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 21 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 17 [B]Seconds:[/B] 51

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 107

Thank you nonic. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]12/10/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 0 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 33 [B]Seconds:[/B] 46

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 12049

Nicely done! Very inspiring :) Josie, Support Specialist

17 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1148

Well said, Nonic. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/15/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 270 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 5,400 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1,134.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 43 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 19 [B]Seconds:[/B] 42

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The Power of Imagination