I feel so strongly on this point that I hesitated about responding for fear of offending anyone.
Breather, I agree with you entirely. You either smoke or you don't. I definitely don't agree with the "slip" concept. If you choose to smoke again, you have made a conscious decision to do that, rather than remain smoke free. If you smoke, you blew the quit. There have been many times that I was so tempted to grab a smoke and have a few puffs. Nobody would have known but me. Could I have kept on telling people I had over 600 smoke-free days??? Not a chance. The only honest thing that I could say was that I had remained smoke-free for 600+ days, then I was a fool and blew it. Back to zero on the meter.
Is this not why we ask for help when we're having difficulty remaining smoke-free? Remember me coming back a few weeks ago when I was struggling? I could have lit up so easily, but I chose to come here first and look/receive the support I needed to remain smoke-free. Is this not part of the committment we made when we chose to quit smoking? Quitting is not a joke - it's a full-out fight. My opinion is that you can't keep quitting, slipping, quitting, slipping and not reset the meter. You have to quit and remain quit to be a non-smoker.
I know that it's been said that it takes an average of 7 attempts to quit smoking before you have it partly under control. This is my first "real" attempt, and it's hasn't been easy. I truly admire the quitters that don't succeed but continue to return. However, if you don't succeed, start again, not carry over your stats from where they used to be.
I hope I haven't offended anyone, just my opinion.
My Milage:My Quit Date: 1/3/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 608
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 12,160
Amount Saved: $4,620.80
Life Gained:Days: 66
Hrs: 8
Mins: 56
Seconds: 50