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Share your quitting journey

Dig Deep

JACKIE1-25-15
Member
11 16 187

There is one thing certain in life, everything must change, nothing remains the same. Life does not stop when we quit smoking/vaping but it may appear to intensify when we quit. The keyword is "appear"  We just have not yet developed the skillsets to deal with raw emotions which were once clouded by nicotine addiction. When circumstances arise, whether good or bad, we have to respond. How we respond depends upon our character and resolve which comes from our inner strength. One thing I can attest to for certainty; quitting smoking can help to develop your inner strength if you tap into it.  If you dig deep enough you will achieve more than you could ever imagine. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from.  Inner strength can be attained to overcome life’s challenges including quitting smoking or vaping.  Quitting smoking can be a catalyst for developing your inner strength. Learn to tap into it to go the distance to remain smokefree. Digging into your inner strength(resilience) is not easy. It has to be forged. Realize that it can be forged through a determined effort of NOPE "NO MATTER WHAT".  Start thinking of quitting as an opportunity to attain an inner strength to meet the challenges of quitting smoking which builds a solid foundation to help in other areas of your life.  A wise elder once told me.

"If you can quit smoking you can do anything".

There are many on this site who daily use their inner strength to achieve their goals, dreams, and to meet challenges by not giving up and going the distance NO MATTER WHAT.  Digging deeper is the resolve to overcome any obstacle to become stronger. It’s simple to understand, difficult to do but it is doable. It becomes easier as we continue to not give up.  How do we do it? First, no one is strong all of the time. Second, sometimes we may not meet that challenge but the idea is to never give up with the resolve to be and do better. There’s only one roadblock to achieving inner strength, and that is complacency.  A wise elder one once told me

to not be too confident.

I was a little taken back but I finally understood but I use the word "complacent" Do not become complacent. Need I explain? If so let me know.

Here are a few things that you can do to tap into your inner strength.

Learn to Relax and Take Care of Yourself. It takes mental and physical work to quit smoking. You have to have energy. Find a way to recharge. Breathing and finding a quiet place worked for me. Staying as calm as possible was an added plus.  Make sure you get plenty of rest. Being tired is a trigger. Recharge by EXercising, meditating, taking a bath, or reading,  Come here read, study blog, research. I did. Prioritize and choose what you will tackle. Do not become overwhelmed. Step back and take the time to recharge, we’re in a much better position to handle whatever comes our way It’s also important to take care of our physical needs. Make a conscious effort to eat healthy food and get an adequate amount of sleep each night.

Spend time with positive people. Negative people have a tendency to complain and make other’s lives more difficult and deplete your energy which can be an unnecessary burden when trying to build inner strength. There is only one certainty in life, and that is change. Grab hold of a mentor here and read their blogs. You may have to change people along with places and things.

Forgive yourself. Let the past be the past. It’s very important that we have the ability to forgive ourselves from any and all past mistakes that we’ve made and move forward. Along with forgiving ourselves. Forgive others.

Build Confidence. Reflect on past accomplishments and what roadblocks you have overcome. Make comparisons of what you are going through with what you have already achieved. This reinforces that obstacles can be overcome despite the difficulty. Remember no one is perfect. It’s often inner strength that is the deciding factor.

Positive affirmations. Affirmations can be an important part of our inner being. When cultivating a stronger self, come up with some daily positive affirming phrases/mantras to state. Tell yourself that you are valuable. Positive Affirmations and Support

Be Accountable Daily Pledge Making EXcuses cannot build inner strength. If there is a situation that we’re responsible for and we fail, we must own it. Take responsibility for our actions. If a mistake is made, admit it, forgive, and move on. I'm included. I am still learning and continuous work in progress.

If I have offended someone forgive me. If you would like we can talk about it.

Set Goals Step by step one day at a time. My first goal- 24 hours. I believed if I could go 24 hours I could do the rest. Here I am. 1732 DOF or more.  Some days I had to do it one day at a time. The next goal was 3 days, then 2 weeks, 30 days then. 60, 90, 120, 365, 2 yrs and now a forever quit.  Sometimes, we want things now. This cannot be so with anything worthwhile, but we can expect to earn inner strength with every step that we take towards the achievement of our goals. Nothing breeds confidence, accomplishment and inner strength like progress. Progress is one of the keys to building stronger versions of ourselves. So embrace the progress and be better for it. Gosh, I love it!

Celebrate your milestones In being stronger expect to earn rewards. When things begin to come to fruition, make sure to savor moments. They are worth celebrating. Celebrating Milestones All of that hard work in developing character has paid off and will continue to do so. Pet yourself on the back. Be your own champion and toot your horn.

Last thing. I love you God bless you all, Never give up, never give in, hang tough, stay close and connected, protect your quit.

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex/blog/2017/02/27/a-recipe-for-a-forever-quit?sr=... 

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About the Author
Lay aside every weight that may be slowing you down. Make up your mind not to allow doubt cause you to stumble. You can do this! Do not allow fear , False Expectations Appearing Real to hold you down. You can do this! Break the chains of addiction, forgive yourself for ever smoking. move forward and start loving yourself more each day by staying smokefree. Put aside worry, anxiety, depression, any EXcuse that you would use to not get in or stay in the race of freedom. Take one day at a time, one step if necessary. Run the race diligently, steady and sure with endurance. Believe that you can. Keep your eye on the prize. Hang tough, stay close, be mindful, never give in, never give up.