Here's an Oldie for you...

Look what I found in my archives:

Ode to All Quitters

When I was young and in my prime
All rosy-cheecked & dewy,
I set upon a crooked path
which turned my life all screwy.

"Pray, tell us please," you plainly ask,
"What was the heinous crime?"
Why, nothing more and nothing less
Than buying nic's pure slime.

The lies he sold were of the kind
To turn one's head and flatter.
He said, "If you will join with me
Your body won't grow fatter."

He further said, "I'll soothe your nerves,
I'll ease your freak-out stress.
Just take one puff. It's quite enough
To lift you from that mess."

Ah, through the years it added up,
The price I really paid.
The good news, tho, is that today
My life I would not trade.

"Why?" you ask. I'll tell you why:
5 years I am smokefree!!
A sweet, sweet gift contingent on
My WITS, my WIN, you see.

The stressors come, the stressors go,
But I don't plan on cavin'.
As long as there's TLOS
To be my smokefree haven.
***********************

Yes, I wrote that nearly 3 years ago! Oh, and here's what those acronyms stand for: Whatever It TakeS (WITS), Whatever Is Necessary (WIN), The Land Of Smokeless (TLOS, which is what a group of us quitters back in '01 named the smoking cessation support group message board on WebMD).

Hope you enjoyed an awesomely smokefree weekend. If you're still smoking? Well, bottom line, friend...you need to quit. Scroll through my blog, read the posts, and do the deal for yourself, your own WITS, WIN. Become a participant in your own miracle of smokefreedom. You can watch it happen one day/hr/min/sec at a time...there is nothing like it in the world! And there is nothing more beautiful than the courage to change.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann

Heidy-ho...

good neighbor! Dang, the only time I can see Wilson is on Home Improvement reruns...I miss that dude.

The 69 pilgrims from our six-parish linkage are nearly four days into their trip to Roma...how well I remember our trek in 1996. Is the trip of a lifetime (thank you, Uncle Bill and Aunt Mabel) and one I shall never forget

How I wish I'd had a laptop back then...(still don't have one, actually). One of the parishioners is blogging whilst on the trip...it feels like she took all of us along with her! You can read (and travel) too...http://www.hejlikwoman.blogspot.com/

I was still smoking in 1996. If it hadn't been for someone (most likely my guardian angel) leaving the section of the New York Times containing the crossword puzzle and having a big bag of mints to suck on I might've croaked from a nicotine fit! That is a lonnnnnnggg flight, lemme tell ya.

That NYTimes crossword took me from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany to complete, but complete it, I did....and I kept it, too! Did I mention it was my first ever NYTimes crossword? They are tough.

Smoking in Rome...well, I'm surprised I didn't get lost, trying to sneak off to grab a smoke, excusing myself from the table to go outside to smoke, trying to hide the hand holding my cig kind of behind me, so no one would see. Good grief! I smelled like a chimney & didn't do the Spanish Steps cause I couldn't.

Still, I wouldn't have missed the trip for anything. The cradle of my faith...singing Gregorian chant at Mass in St. Peter's, being part of the group received in private audience by Pope John Paul II, and him shaking hands individually with the 200+ pilgrims encircling the room (the Sala Clementina) so that we could each have our pictures taken with His Holiness...and when he died (may he RIP), realizing that the room where he lay in state was the same room in which our audience was held...well, I cried my eyes out.

It took another 5 years for me to finally cooperate with God's will and kick nic(otine). On a daily basis I do my WITS, WIN to stay smokefree & leave the rest up to God. He hasn't failed me yet & I want it to stay that way.

If you're reading this and still puffing away I hope you'll take a serious look at yourself in the mirror. Lent is coming...a perfect time for turning over a new leaf and beginning a new life.

Lent is about conversion, so converting yourself from a smoker to a person who is smokefree fits right in. The smoking cessation support group message board over at WebMD is the place I found early in my quit...and it is there this wimp found HOPE. I realized that for me to stay smokefree over the long haul would mean serious nic maintenance on a daily basis.

Well, I'm grateful to say it's working! It has been 7 yrs., 9 mos. (one day/hr/min/sec at a time) since I smoked, thanks be to God, family, and friends.

You can do it...I did. If I can anybody can. Guaranteed. Pray for the willingness to be willing.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann

"I'd rather be a quitter with an occasional urge to smoke than a smoker with the constant desire to quit." --From Junkie Thinkin'

Isn't Quitting Smoking for Myself Selfish???

IMHO, no. Here's what I believe:

I must quit for myself *first*, rather than quit *for* someone else because, if I quit for someone else, I run a huge risk of setting myself up for a bigtime resentment. If I should happen to slip or relapse it is a quick hop to then blame someone else for my slip or relapse, rather than take responsibility for my action.

I tell myself (falsely, yes, but remember, as a nic addict I suffer from Junkie Thinkin'): "If so and so hadn't done such and such I wouldn't have slipped/relapsed. It's all their fault!"

When demon nic hears me say that he's as happy as a pig in slop!! He's hooked me right back into his clutches, onto one super slippery slope back to smoking. Have I been there?? Yes, I've been there, absolutely!

Here's one example: I direct our church choir. One Easter a female choir member missed the rehearsal where I apologized to everyone for any out-of-the-ordinary curtness/impatience they might witness on my part, urging them not to take it personally, merely to rest assured I would return to my sweet charming self before very long.

Anyway, at the end of the Easter Vigil service, one in which the choir executed their role beautifully, I was taking deep breaths, "coming down," as it were, thanking God for his goodness, basking in the awesome afterglow of a job well done. Said choir member approached me with, "You know, we were pretty worried about you for awhile there (what? what? I'm frantically trying to follow her train of thought, trying to pay attention to her)...that maybe you were heading for a nervous breakdown (what? what? what in heaven's name is she talking about?), cause you get so wigged out every year." I still wasn't able to focus on what the heck she was talking about, and, frankly, mentally dismissed her, as I didn't want to interrupt that awesome afterglow basking.

Well, no matter...nic(otine) was willing to wait. At least he waited til I started driving home...then he began sending niggling thoughts into my head..."how dare C. rain on my parade? What a nerve! I'm really ticked!" Oh, my friends, I bought into nic hook, line, and sinker...how insensitive of her to damage my sensitive ego...sheesh...I worked up such a froth I couldn't get to the mini-mart fast enough, where I threw my money on the counter & lit up faster than who laid the rail.

Now, think about it...I sure the heck didn't hurt C. by relapsing, did I? No. The only person I hurt was myself...she was out there doing life's happy dance while I wallowed in my own miserable self-pity.

What's really sad is that it took me another 9 years of smoking to figure that out. I'm a slooowwwwww learner. (groan)

So if anybody out there is reading this...quit for YOU...please, first and foremost. Queen Mum believed this, too. Your family, friends, co-workers, PETS (!) will reap the side benefits...but you must do it for YOU. Taking care of ourselves first keeps us stronger and healthier so that we can care for others. Many of us were never taught this, but it's merely common sense. We can't give what we don't have.

Feel free to post comments or share similar experiences.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann

A Visit to the Queen...

For a few days I'll have this photo of Queen Mum n'me posted on my profile page in addition to here. What a twinkle in her eye...and what a peach...a twinkly peach! lol Oh, and catch the notebook on the sofa...it contained board posts, messages from TLOS inhabitants, poetry, our songs, Junkie Thinkin', etc. Our gift to her for the momentous occasion. You folks were all right there with me that day.

On his WebMD entry Mike noted her sense of humor...right on, Mike! A number of times over the years she & I had phone conversations...the first half of each spent bemoaning our current particular fates (too hot/too cold/construction workers & jackhammers right outside my window/griping about the new board format/politics/politicians/kids/etc., etc., etc)(or read, "waaah, waaah, waaah!"). The last half of those conversations lightened up considerably, aka , "Didja hear the one about the.....???" Along with smart-ass comments on anything/everything, and pshaw-ing our current particular fates we'd finally say good-bye teary-eyed from laughing our heads off.

Sure beats the alternative, right? Right, Arleen!! LOL

Have a great smokefree Saturday, everyone...our Queen would've wanted it so.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann

To Arleen...

Folks are stopping in to share memories over on the WebMD board:

http://boards.webmd.com/webx/topics/hd/General-Health/Smoking-Cessation-Support-Group/

Be sure to check them out...under "In Memoriam" thread.

I'm tracking down Arleen's obituary (hoping it's a fruitful quest) & will keep you informed.

I am most grateful to know she is now with Sherrie...she missed her daughter something fierce. Her younger daughter, Linda, still lives in the CA area, but have no other knowledge of her.

Am not feeling any urges to smoke (thank you, God)...just sadness, emptiness, loss...like I imagine most all of us are feeling.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann

Requiescat in pace...

As I posted earlier this morning on the WebMD smoking cessation support group message board: Word has been received that our friend and "quit-mentor," Queen Mum (aka Arleen, smokeless in CA, etc.), died January 14, 2009, after suffering a massive stroke two weeks earlier. Arleen lived in Mountain View, CA. My husband & I had the privilege of a short visit with her in 2006.

I will write more about that later. Right now I'm just trying to deal with the reality of her death. I feel very sad we have lost someone so passionate about doing WITS, WIN to hang onto her quit. She had her struggles, yes, and it took her more than one attempt. I remember many times her saying she handled her quit like a work project: Did the research, devised a plan & did the deal. Arleen was BIG on support and encouragement. One of her fave tag lines was "Alone *I* can't; together WE can."

So together let us mourn our friend and co-quitter, our mentor and Queen, Arleen. May she forever ride her purple Harley & brandish her Royal Scepter at the evil Dr. Schmoke.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--We Love You, Arleen--Mary Ann

Sad news...

My ex-husband's Mother died on Monday...an exceptional lady, reaching 98 years of age last summer, a lady always kind to me over the years. She loved her God and her family, was very accepting of others, and lived a life of unconditional love. We pray for the repose of her soul and God's healing and consolation for her family.

Stay warm and smokefree, everybody.

Spring is one day closer.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann

Breaking the Nicotine Addiction
by Noel E. Neff (written in 2006)

Until five years ago, Rhonda Rosburg was a heavy smoker—a habit she started as a teenager but one that left her literally breathless at 30,000 feet during an airplane flight home in 1998. As her husband watched helplessly, she began gasping for air and later landed in the emergency room in Rochester, Minn.

Although the episode was scary enough to make her husband stop smoking, Rosburg resumed her pack-a-day habit within months. Only when she started panting while climbing stairs at age 42 did she finally get the message. "I didn't want to be 80 years old with an oxygen tank,” says Rosburg, who overcame her nicotine addiction in 2001.

Almost every longtime smoker has attempted to kick the habit. But, in their initial enthusiasm, they discover quickly that changing behavior is only part of a complex transformation that also requires overcoming an addiction to nicotine. When inhaled by smoking tobacco products, this potent chemical sends the body conflicting signals, including physical and mood-altering effects in the brain that are temporarily pleasing. It is this satisfying "rush” that reinforces further tobacco use, says Dr. J. Taylor Hays of the Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Dependence Center in Rochester. "Nicotine in tobacco smoke is delivered to the brain faster than intravenous medications,” Hays says. "It's powerfully addictive.”

To confront her addiction, Rosburg entered a residential treatment program at the Mayo Clinic, where she learned to change her smoking behaviors. She used nicotine-replacement products to gradually offset nicotine cravings as her body went through withdrawal. Rosburg took her last cigarette puff on June 8, 2001, and today at 47, she loathes cigarettes and has even enjoyed a health bonus: "I've lost 12 pounds because my lungs can finally handle jogging and running,” she says.

Joel Spitzer, a smoking prevention and cessation consultant based in Evanston, Ill., delivers a no-nonsense message to "smoke-a-holics”: Quit cold turkey! He says it's the easiest and most effective way to stop smoking for good.

"It's an addiction, like a recovering alcoholic taking a sip of a drink and suffering a relapse,” says Spitzer, author of the online guide Never Take Another Puff (at www.whyquit.com). "One drag on a cigarette can undo everything.”

Spitzer was a child when he convinced his mother to stop smoking and, for three decades, has led clinics and courses urging smokers never to take another puff. "You have a great chance of success if you recognize smoking as a drug addiction and not as just a bad habit,” he says.

Here are 10 strategies for breaking the nicotine addiction.

Set a date. Mark your calendar with an "I quit!” day, and get rid of all cigarettes, ashtrays, lighters and other items related to smoking.

Be prepared. Expect to experience withdrawal symptoms such as mood swings, headaches, hunger, anxiety and a lack of focus. Understand that these symptoms, while uncomfortable, are only temporary.

Trigger points. Recognize daily routines that trigger smoking, such as coffee breaks or watching television, and avoid or adapt them to discourage old behaviors.

Cut down on caffeine. Caffeine can make you feel edgy. Drink more water and juice to reduce cravings.

Exercise can help. Take a brisk walk or engage in another physical activity.

Practice deep breathing. It can help you relax and cope until cravings pass. Visualize your lungs filling with fresh, clean air.

Seek support. Join a support group such as Nicotine Anonymous (www.nicotine-anonymous.org), or attend a stop-smoking class.

Nicotine-replacement therapy. Over-the-counter products such as nicotine patches, gum and lozenges can help ease discomfort during withdrawal. Consult your physician about prescribed alternatives.

Positive reinforcement. Remind yourself of the health, social and financial benefits of not smoking.

Don't give up. If you try to quit and relapse, determine what went wrong and try again. Quitting smoking is a process. More than 46 million Americans have done it successfully, and you can, too.

Visit www.mayoclinic.org/stop-smoking for more information.

Noel E. Neff is a freelance writer in Fairfield County, Conn.
******************************************

Nothing like some good old-fashioned motivation to kick off a new week. Everything there to answer most all new quitters' questions, along with links to two awesome sites.

Make it a super smokefree Super Bowl Sunday!

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann