Thanks guys. I'm steady and looking forward to day 5!!
Just checking in. Today is day 14 for me. I have a long (rest of my life) way to go and many more difficult days ahead. However, today was a very good day. So for you guys just starting out, hang in and spend a ton of time on this site. Better days are not that far away!
When times are good, practice for the bad.
Post roll. Contact your friends and solidify your contacts. Grab a new quitter and help him get through the first few days. You are a vet to that day 2 guy, and you've earned that title.
When times are bad, lean on your tools you've learned here.
Post roll. Contact your friends and tell them you're struggling. Don't let these guys with less days catch you. Prove your commitment.
I wrote this a while back, and feel that it is absolutely necessary knowledge to somebody "feeling good in the teens":
There is a major funk that is coming up shortly. It starts usually in the late teens. It does not make you crave nicotine. It's the opposite. It makes you think you are invincible and completely quit.
Take a look at the other months' spreadsheets. We lose many a fine quitter in the 20s. In fact, we lose more quitters in the 20s than any other time (except for the first week). I myself was almost a victim.
My thoughts on the funk are this:
The first week is complete hell. We all agree there. But, upon completion of the first week, we start to feel more comfortable with being quit. We get a sense of accomplishment for breaking that physical addiction, and our quits are fueled by adreneline.
Around day 20 (maybe later, maybe sooner), the adreneline starts to run out. Our brains want to tell us that we are quit, and we don't need to think about being quit all the time. We want normalcy, rather than having to feel committed to a website and anonymous strangers. We don't want to think that we used to stick cat turds in our mouths all the time, let alone that we are addicts. Even if we've embraced the label "addict" early in the quit, we wonder if we truly are at this time. We start to think that this roll call posting is silly business, because we are quit already. We begin hating all the bullshit on this site, and start thinking that the site is more drama than what it is worth.
This is the start to the planned cave.
Your addicted brain is letting the nic bitch have the microphone in your head and she is the one talking. She will tell you that she is gone, and that you don't need to post roll anymore. She'll tell you every lie under the sun to get you to stop giving your word everyday.
Some of you will decide she is right. You will leave. And you might not even cave right away, but you will. The nic bitch is a tricky whore, and she can sleep until you are the weakest.
Be very careful here. There is a lot of bullshit on this site, and it's meant to be a distraction for you. If it becomes too much, simply post roll and ignore it. Lean on your brothers. They are having these same thoughts, and the best thing you can do is to make sure that everybody keeps posting.
I stopped posting roll after 150 days in 2006. I caved in 2009 because I forgot I was an addict. The nic bitch had taken that time to break down every tool I learned here, and made me forget. She dug her claws in, and I manned up again 493 days ago today. I should be around 2400 days quit, and instead all I can claim is that I stopped for like 1,000 days and then again for 493.
EVERYDAY
Post roll.
Stay quit.
Repeat.
