RJ posted this back in Sept. of 08. I saved it, because it was a big help to me during those early days when the craves were so intense.
All my life I was conditioned to either stand and fight or turn and run when faced with challenge. If you’re a newbie, then chances are there is another habit trigger waiting around the corner that will soon generate a short yet powerful anxiety attack that we call a crave. The habit trigger could be an emotion, time, event or place where, or during which, you used to suck warm nicotine laden air into crying lungs in order to replenish your blood’s rapidly falling nicotine level.
The good news is that most habit triggers are reconditioned and discarded by our subconscious mind with just a single encounter. The good news is that the triggered crave will only last a few minutes. The good news is that the anxiety power of our crave generator is fizzling fast, and with each encountered crave there is one less trigger to recondition. The good news is that the reward of total and complete comfort is just down the road. The bad news is that if you’re a newbie then there is probably another crave just around the corner. But is it bad?
So what approach do you use? Do you duck or run when you sense one coming or do you turn and fight? Is your game plan working to your satisfaction? Our objective here is simple - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF, but our natural instincts on how best to achieve our objective may not be the easiest path to travel. Can we hide from our craves or will they find us anyway? Can we runaway from them or will they catch us? It’s the same with going toe to toe in battle, isn’t it? Can we beat-up our craves and make them surrender or cry "uncle"? Can we scare them away? I think not. Encountering all of our triggers and craves is a very necessary part of recovering and normalizing every aspect of our daily lives. It’s true healing!
Tobacco’s deadly cargo is clearly a killer but what about our craves? Can a crave that lasts a couple of minutes kill you? Will it cut you, make you bleed, or send you to the emergency room? Can it physically harm you? If not, then why do you fear it so? How much of the anxiety associated with your quit is self induced? Why are you agonizing over the anticipated arrival of your next crave? When it finally arrives will you immediately begin feeding your mind additional anxieties that only fuel the fire?
The anxiety of a crave for nicotine is very real and it’s ok to reach out and feel it but most of you have never done so. Not once! Instead, what you feel is a tremendously inflated experience driven by fear, fueled by anticipation, and tense due to a history of prior relapse. Just once, stop running, drop your guard, take slow deep deliberate breaths and then reach out to TOUCH your crave. It won’t injure you! It’s ok to be afraid but be brave for just one moment! Wrap your arms around your crave. Clear your mind for just one moment so that you can feel the true anxiety of your healing. Make sure that you feel your tummy rising as you take slow deep deliberate breaths into the bottom of both lungs. Clear your mind of all chatter, worries, fears and thoughts so that you can sense and appreciate exactly what this crave is like.
Touch it, hug it, feel it, sense it! You won’t make the anxiety one bit more intense than it otherwise would have been. You’re witnessing part of the most beautiful healing that your body and life may ever experience. Yes, there is anxiety there but for the very first time it’s not being fed and fueled by you. Feel it’s strength slowing begin decaying. Take pride in your healing. It can’t hurt you, only you can do that! Enjoy your recovery don’t fear it! Embrace your craves! Enjoy your journey home! There is a very special person waiting at the other end!
John Gold a multi year quitter at whyquit gets this credit, it helped me.
