June (derogatory) 🖤🏳️⚧️I used to listen to music and smoke, but now I just listen to music and be gay! Being gay gives me more dopamine than smoking gave me. 
On a less positive note, I’ve learned the withdrawals never really stop, you don’t get the feeling in your gut like you need it anymore, but you always remember the feeling. I’ll probably pick smoking back up again, I wish I wouldn’t, but like, idk it’s becoming very hard to resist the idea. It’s all because I’m weak, I need stuff to distract me. If I were stronger I could make it, but that’s not who I am. Oh well.
Flak 🏴@Fawn_Over_Fun i personally like to combat narratives of being strong or weak bc of a habit or substance. It's not a question of strength, it takes a lot if strength to stop at all, but it's about periods of time of use and non-use. Sometimes I smoke a lot, at times not at all. It's all ebs and flows and progress is not linear! It's also just not helpful or constructive self-talk. Hope you have a great day and enjoy not smoking, and when you do smoke again, enjoy that too!
Ripperdoc. Miya Ironami@[email protected] it's incredible that you've stopped smoking! Quitting smoking is a big achievement and you should be proud of yourself. ♥️
But as you said, it really is only part of the journey... I sincerely hope that you will not relapse and I'm rooting for you 🙏
I'm lucky to have never smoked myself, but I've helped people who have, so here is some advice. I don't know if this will help, but I hope it will.
The urge to smoke manifests in different ways for different people. You said it's hard to resist the idea, but when does the idea to smoke manifests in you?
There might be some situations where you are especially prone to feel that way, such as when you're bored, anxious, or at specific times of the day. So when you feel it, pay attention to the context and to your feelings.
Identifying your triggers might help you manage these feelings better. It will also reassure you of their ephemeral nature, you know that they only occur in specific contexts and that they'll eventually calm down.
That being said, you may not necessarily have any identifiable triggers. This is only one aspect of it so it's okay.
Your friends can help you stay away from smoking. Identify people that you can reach out to when you feel tempted to smoke again so they can provide encouragement and support.
Knowing that you have friends who believe in you and are personally involved in your journey might also further motivate you!
If you want... you can always reach out to me. My Matrix is in the bio, I'm also on Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. I'd be glad to help if I can!
You've mentioned that you try to distract yourself from the cravings, but you could still experiment further to figure out if any other kind of distraction works even better for you.
A few things that come to mind are chewing gum, lollipops, fidget toys... (I especially like having fidget toys with me because otherwise I tend to bite my hair. It's a bad habit of mine!)
Finally, it might help to reward yourself for not smoking. The feeling of accomplishment is a reward in itself, and you should try to really focus on it to amplify it.
You could have a calendar where you mark every day where you haven't smoked so you see at a glance how far you've come. You could also mark the days where you felt a strong urge to smoke so that you can see how you pulled through all of these and resisted the temptation, reassuring you that you can do this!
Real, tangible rewards can work very well too. You could say something like "if I don't smoke for the next 2 months, then I will do xyz". Personally, this doesn't work very well for me, but others have reported some success with that.
Remember that quitting smoking is a process, and it's okay if you slip up or have setbacks along the way.
Best of luck in your journey 🙏 Once again, I'm fully committed to helping you however I can!
But as you said, it really is only part of the journey... I sincerely hope that you will not relapse and I'm rooting for you 🙏
I'm lucky to have never smoked myself, but I've helped people who have, so here is some advice. I don't know if this will help, but I hope it will.
The urge to smoke manifests in different ways for different people. You said it's hard to resist the idea, but when does the idea to smoke manifests in you?
There might be some situations where you are especially prone to feel that way, such as when you're bored, anxious, or at specific times of the day. So when you feel it, pay attention to the context and to your feelings.
Identifying your triggers might help you manage these feelings better. It will also reassure you of their ephemeral nature, you know that they only occur in specific contexts and that they'll eventually calm down.
That being said, you may not necessarily have any identifiable triggers. This is only one aspect of it so it's okay.
Your friends can help you stay away from smoking. Identify people that you can reach out to when you feel tempted to smoke again so they can provide encouragement and support.
Knowing that you have friends who believe in you and are personally involved in your journey might also further motivate you!
If you want... you can always reach out to me. My Matrix is in the bio, I'm also on Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. I'd be glad to help if I can!
You've mentioned that you try to distract yourself from the cravings, but you could still experiment further to figure out if any other kind of distraction works even better for you.
A few things that come to mind are chewing gum, lollipops, fidget toys... (I especially like having fidget toys with me because otherwise I tend to bite my hair. It's a bad habit of mine!)
Finally, it might help to reward yourself for not smoking. The feeling of accomplishment is a reward in itself, and you should try to really focus on it to amplify it.
You could have a calendar where you mark every day where you haven't smoked so you see at a glance how far you've come. You could also mark the days where you felt a strong urge to smoke so that you can see how you pulled through all of these and resisted the temptation, reassuring you that you can do this!
Real, tangible rewards can work very well too. You could say something like "if I don't smoke for the next 2 months, then I will do xyz". Personally, this doesn't work very well for me, but others have reported some success with that.
Remember that quitting smoking is a process, and it's okay if you slip up or have setbacks along the way.
Best of luck in your journey 🙏 Once again, I'm fully committed to helping you however I can!
@iro_miya aww, thanks a lot. This is actually pretty helpful. I guess my biggest trigger is listening to any music that I used to listen to when I would smoke, but also, some of those are still bangers so no shot I quit listening to those songs. Thank you for the advice though!
@[email protected] Hmm, music... I have a feeling that as time will go, they'll gradually be less associated with smoking in your head. I hope it'll happen soon enough!
Another thing I've forgotten to mention is meditation. Meditation trains your focus and your ability to block out intrusive thoughts. There are tons of studies showing the benefits of meditation, just look it up!
While it takes a bit of patience and a few weeks to start feeling the benefits, it might really help you deal with these urges. Meditation is not the most direct approach, but it might help you in other areas of your life, so consider giving it a shot!
Another thing I've forgotten to mention is meditation. Meditation trains your focus and your ability to block out intrusive thoughts. There are tons of studies showing the benefits of meditation, just look it up!
While it takes a bit of patience and a few weeks to start feeling the benefits, it might really help you deal with these urges. Meditation is not the most direct approach, but it might help you in other areas of your life, so consider giving it a shot!