Hmm. The other train of thought is that maybe I need to keep on coming here until I no longer feel the urge to do so. Just keep doing it until I wear it out. I guess there are worse things than hanging around a support board.
Must be such a great feeling to realize you can breathe deeply again and that this is your new normal!
I agree with Sparky with regards to staying or leaving. Stay!
Whether you use this site to vent or share the successes of your quit journey, your story is valuable to many other members that use this site (new + old).
In fairness to how you're feeling, perhaps a brief break from the site will help you understand what role it is playing for you in your quit? Of course we deeply value your participation with the SSC, so please let us know what you decide and how it impacts your quit.
In my opinion why leave. I am so very grateful that some of my old quit buddies are still here, they don't have to be but they are here to help others that show up. What is so sad about this site now is the lack of participation. I know how to reach many that use to come here, but being here makes my quit feel real. I owe so much to SSC and to think of not coming here after being quit for a year doesn't ring true for me. I belong to 12 step program and after 36 years I still go to two meeting a week. Why? because I want to let the newcomer know it works and this site works only if there is someone here to welcome the new quitter. But it is your choice.
First, my repiratory symptoms are pretty much gone these days. I noticed that when something made me cough today, and I realized that I haven't coughed in a long time. The smoker's cough seems to have gone away. It's also been a long time since I heard or felt any popping or wheezing in my chest. This is despite the fact that pollen counts have been very high for the past month or so where I live. I do have pretty intense allergies (been sneezing up a storm), but the usual spring wheezing and coughing was apparently not related to my pollen allergies, as I had thought. So, it is nice to take nice deep, clear breaths these days.
Second, I've been wondering when it's OK for me to fade back from this site. A while back, around the 6 month mark, I was feeling triggered by coming here. It was kind of a reminder of what I no longer wasnted to think about. For various reasons (worry over forgetting the reasons I quit, feeling the need to respond to posters, boredom, etc.), I have kept coming back. At some point, I stopped being triggered by coming back here. At some point, I was just able to detach from the descriptions of cravings. But I feel like I'm using this place as a security blanket now. Not sure if it's good for me to keep clinging.
So I'm wondering when its safe to fade out? What would be some signs that it is time?.
So, it is nice to take nice deep, clear breaths these days.
