Turkey's Triumphs: Page 40

“A year from now you will wish you had started today.�? -Karen Lamb.

I came across this quote and thought how appropriate for any of you who are thinking of quitting or have recently quit. When you think the journey will be too hard so why start, read this quote. When you think the journey is currently more than you can bear, read this quote. This quote is actually good for when making any life changes!

One day you will be looking in the mirror celebrating a day, a week, a month, three months, six months and then the coveted year of being smoke free.

Then one glorious and amazing morning you wake up, like I did this morning, and you have reached year two. From the bottom of my heart I can tell you that this journey of being smoke free is so very worth it. Be strong fellow turkeys and give yourself the gift of freedom!

My rewards have already been many but today I think maybe something small and sparkly is in order ha-ha.

Betty

Thank you so much for your website. It was one of the most important parts of my quitting smoking story. As I write this, I have been smoke-free for over 2 years.

I started smoking in high school and was a closeted smoker for many years. Eventually, I became and alcoholic and addict. I started recovery in a 12-step program over 8 years ago. But I kept smoking cigarettes. I knew that they were killing me and I was resigned to dying a smokers’ death. I knew how sad that was, especially since I had experienced recovery from alcohol and other forms of drug addiction. But that nicotine was powerful stuff. More powerful, I thought, than all the other drugs. And yet, it is allowed, even encouraged to smoke in 12-step recovery. For some reason, smoking cigarettes doesn’t count as not being clean and sober.

But I knew that wasn’t right. So I prayed and I prayed for the willingness and strength to stop using nicotine. I sought out Nicotine Anonymous and I found this website.

I was finally able to quit smoking cold turkey after having been a smoker for over 25 years. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do and the first 3-6 months were very emotional.

But now, 2 1/2 years later, I can barely remember that I was a smoker. I rarely ever think about it and when I do, I just pray to stay quit.

It IS possible. It CAN happen for you. This website is a HUGE source of help and strength.

Thank you, Thank you

Liz R.
Greenville, SC
43 years old

Just wanted to send my heart felt thanks for WhyQuit's major contribution to stopping smoking. It's been 12 years and never felt better. All my blessings.

Warmest Regards
Thomas Slaymaker

I have quit cold turkey after 24 years of strong chain usage of nicotine in its multiple forms. It's gonna be one year now in a week from now on 2.2.18. I am free now. Nicotine is only a distant memory now. It took lot of hard work and toil but its worth it now. Especially when you're with your kids. You feel good about yourself.

You people are the best resource of data for people who want to quit nicotine. I am thankful to you people for the accurate data on the physical and psychological challenges which one faces through this journey. Weight gain is a serious issue though. There should be more research on how to avoid weight gain on quitting nicotine after long usage. I also feel there has to be a divine intervention which will cause you to have a rebirth.

Sachin Rai Vaid

John and Joel …………….. Thanks you guys ………. 4 Years today and counting ……….. NTAP (Never Take Another Puff)

Bud Laramore

Joel, bless you. New years day, please God, I will be smoke free 2 years. l smoked maybe 18 a day for 25+ years. Thanks to your great videos and tips I managed to quit. l never truly believed that I ever would. It's a fantastic feeling to be still off them. Thanks again buddy. Happy 🎄 �?� 🎉 🎶 to you and all this Xmas season and in 2018. 'Never take another puff' ✌�? 😊 🚭 🇮🇪

Glenn Kavanagh
Ireland

Before my 1 year quit ever happened, I was completely hooked to cigarettes and could never go without them. Forty years of smoking and I was lucky not to bear fruit from all the diseases that leads to death. I live life as a saved man now!

Everything is so different now, the taste of food, the smell of freshly cut grass, and of course I find myself to be more relaxed than ever before. Tobacco products are a curse to mankind and we are better off without them!

Jeffrey Simmons

Three and a half years since I quit. I'm not counting anymore. I had to think hard to figure out how long it has actually been :) Thanks to this website. Quitting is not hard when I think about it now. All you need to do is, read this entire website and remember to NTAP.

I even had a long chat with one of my buddies about this website and how there are things you can practice to help you quit. And guess what, hes now 1 and a half years quit.

I just hope every smoker out there is able to find this website. All the best to Joel and John. Keep up the good work.

Regards,

SM

I am almost 60 years old now and quit cold turkey 🦃 over 2 years ago after decades of smoking. I have been in excellent shape all my life and at the gym 5 days a week still to this day. I had a coronary artery stent implant just a few years ago and smoked for 1 year after. Heavy thoughts on my mind about how stupid I was and decided it was better to die on my own terms and not on Big Tobacco's. Also, I wanted more opportunity to live longer so I could be with my family longer see all my children as they got older and their lives evolved.

I am smarter than a cigarette. It just took this college graduate 40 plus years to realize it, and Joel's videos got me through those many tough first weeks / months. I feel like I owe part of what ever extended life I will benefit from quitting to JOEL SPITZER and just want him to know this. I hope he receives this message and would be happy to talk to him!!

Anonymous

Last year, on 11/11/2016 at 3:30AM USA Eastern Time, I flushed my last quid of dip tobacco down the toilet and have been completely nicotine-clean ever since. It was hard work at first, but the articles at WhyQuit.com were a lifesaver when it came to my Quit. I am writing this letter to share two concepts that kept me nicotine-clean for the whole year.

Firstly, I stayed in the here and now. Really, now is all we have. So I don't use nicotine now. Later is in God's hands, not mine. Secondly, I imagine nicotine addiction as a prison where all sentences are for life and there are only two ways out. One is dead in a pine box; the other is lifetime parole. Just as literal parole from a literal prison comes with conditions, so too does parole from Nicotine Prison. That condition, which we must follow for the rest of our lives, is No Nicotine Today.

I strongly recommend that us Quitters just forget about medical treatments. The doctors - well-meaning as they surely are - all sound like the adults in Peanuts talking (wah-WAH-wah). It's just a matter of Suck It Up and Get Over It. I know, very tough and draconian, amirite? I must be the biggest scumbag in the world to say such a thing, uh? Guess what - it's the truth. I won't sugarcoat matters when people's lives are at stake.

That said, take it from someone who has been there - living on parole from Nicotine Prison is so, so much better than being in the tar-stained, poison gas filled torture chamber of active nicotine addiction. You say you can't handle withdrawal? Try chemotherapy sometime. Much, MUCH worse. I guarantee you that withdrawal is easy compared to becoming the next Noni Glykos, Bryan Lee Curtis, or Sean Marsee.

That's it for now. I welcome emails from other parolees from Nicotine Prison. Please leave my name and email intact for this purpose.

Jim Heckel
jimheckel@gmail.com