The last 24 hrs have been an eye opener for me from a nonsmoker's view. Yesterday I spent over 8 hrs in the emergency room with my dad. Here are a few things I recognized.
The hospital is a total smokefree zone. If you step outside there is only cell phone activity. I did see one guy eating popcorn (funny) He must have wanted to smoke.
All nurses do not have good bedside manners, some do. I asked for an extra blanket for my day, got flack from a bully nurse. As a smoker I probably would have given him the riot "ACT" but as a nonsmoker, I just solved the issue.
The vending machines take your money and the food is unhealthy. (Lunch and dinner) 1 candy bar, two sodas, 2 bags of chips, 1 pack of crackers. Previously, I would have just smoked to suffice.
You can smell smokers, Whew, near or far. I thought you could cover it up.
An ailing parent would be a good or just an excuse to smoke. My addictive brain was telling me how good it would be. The sensation of smoking was alive and I knew how it would make me feel>>>>Nicotine straight to the brain.
Automatically, skillfully I pulled out one of my tools. SELF TALK. ""Self, you don't do that anymore. Self, you don't want to breathe that smoke. Self, if you take that one puff it is all over. Self, you are tired, hungry, anxious, address those issues and you will be okay" The desire subsided and I felt , I am a conqueror.
Then, again on my ride home the thoughts of a hot cup of WAWA coffee and that "pack" surfaced. Addictive brain said "you can smoke just one and throw the remainder away". Tired, but still pulled the tool back out. Self Talk....You don't do that anymore. You don't even smoke in your car so why are you thinking about smoking. My non smoking brain said "get some rest". Make today a smoke free day. Tomorrow may never come. I put my tool up and went to sleep. So today is a new day.
The main point, when we are hungry. tired, angry we associate with the cigarette. This site taught me to HALT. Thank God for this site and the tools to use when necessary.
