6.5 years nicotine free!
Hey everyone. I haven't posted here in many years, but I just wanted to celebrate the fact that after about a decade of being an absolute nicotine fiend, I've been free of it for well over 6 years!
The motivation to post is that I just reread a post I made when I was just 8 months out: https://www.reddit.com/r/stopsmoking/comments/j9ssuo/8_months_nicotine_free_my_tips_for_success/
I expected to read it and cringe a bit, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with the post and discussion. Maybe I'd reword it now, but a lot of the "tips" are things that have stuck with me through the years. I think the biggest thing I'd add to that post (from one of the comments) is that, while you need to accept that cravings are going to happen, you should really make sure to understand the reasoning behind them - what's triggering them, how you're feeling when they happen, etc.
Other than that...honestly, it's been long enough that quitting/staying quit doesn't really occupy much of my time. It's just something that's a part of me now. That's great, but doesn't really make for a super interesting 6 year update post. Either way, I just wanted to post this as encouragement for people just about to start out or in the early days. It gets so much better.