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From Smoker to Non-Smoker.... Cancel

1. sarah, quit coach

   

   222 posts
   Registered:
   28 Nov 2017
   27 Mar 2019

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   When did you/will you consider yourself a ‘non-smoker?” After a day of quitting smoking? A week? A year? Never?
2. brieffree

   

   1477 posts
   Registered:
   28 Nov 2017
   27 Mar 2019

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   Hi Sarah
   
   I consider myself As a Non Smoker since I decided to stop cheating to my self! and finally quit trying to quit!
   
   That was about 3 years ago! Very proud of my Journey and of course very stressful one. I repet Very Proud to say No!
3. wandam

   

   241 posts
   Registered:
   05 Feb 2019
   27 Mar 2019 in reply to sarah, quit coach

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   Hi Sarah,
   
   Good question! I never really thought too much about it. Instead I just take it one day at time & hope to make it past a year & that’s when I will consider myself a Non Smoker. My first quit was 9 months, so I definitely need to get past that milestone & beat it.

   Last modified on 27 Mar 2019 20:00 by wandam
4. treepeo

   

   832 posts
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   29 Nov 2017
   27 Mar 2019

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   I can't remember how long I had been quit for.  I just realized that my life had changed the way I wanted it to.  I was no longer ruled by smoking, I didn't crave it, I didn't really think about it, and I was enjoying the benefits of living a smoke free life.  And I also knew I never wanted to go back to where I started from.
5. jeyan

   

   176 posts
   Registered:
   28 Nov 2017
   28 Mar 2019 in reply to treepeo

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   i am closing in on 3 years.  So I guess I can call myself a non-smoker now. :)
6. atp

   

   501 posts
   Registered:
   31 Dec 2018
   29 Mar 2019 in reply to sarah, quit coach

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   For the first month or two of my quit I was too afraid to call myself a non-smoker for fear of relapsing. But at the same time I thought of myself as a non-smoker from probably my 2nd or 3rd week all as part of my motivation to keep my quit (That is different from being a never-smoker I guess). 
   
   It was really my birthday, at close to 3 months after my quit, where I really was able to declare myself as a non-smoker. It felt good to do it. 
   
   I still have times where I desire a cigarette in that romanticized way of something that we miss. I would not call those thoughts cravings. Secret desires that we won't act upon is more fitting. I know that I cannot have another cigarette ever again if I want to keep my quit. That was my failing so many times before. I never had a quit this long. As efreeman has said many times "my quit has become too valuable". For me it has too. 
   
   In some strange way, I have come to accept that I am a smoking addict. That I will always be a smoking addict. That doesn't stop me from declaring that I am now a non-smoker. Better than saying that I am a recovering smoker, which sounds kind of like I'm hedging and looking for an excuse. 
   
   I struggled for a lot of years to quit. Now I finally have done it. It feels good. Really good. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. sarah, quit coach

   

   222 posts
   Registered:
   28 Nov 2017
   30 Mar 2019

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   Thank you for your input, everyone.
   It seems to really be a personal feeling in 'when' the shift happens from smoker to non-smoker.
   And there was mention of other ways to identify - former smoker, never-again smoker, recovering smoker, etc. So interesting! 
   But what does come through loud & clear: regardless of a label, you are confident & proud of how far you've come to get to this point. 
   Congratulations! Way to go!
   Thanks again for sharing
   Sarah
8. wandam

   

   241 posts
   Registered:
   05 Feb 2019
   31 Mar 2019 in reply to sarah, quit coach

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   Thanks for the posting Sarah, it truly made me have a shift in my thinking, as a Non-Smoker! In a few more days it will be 4 months smoke free for me, I think it’s time for me to consider myself a Non-Smoker. Still taking it one day at a time, always remembering to never think I have this addiction licked. 
9. turningpoint

   

   97 posts
   Registered:
   30 Nov 2017
   18 Apr 2019

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   I do not yet declare myself a non-smoker and have no idea when that will occur.  What I do know is that poisonous plants ruin your health.  Always.  They could even cost you your life.