When I was diagnosed with COPD 2 years ago, I left the Doctor's Office with one goal in mind - I had to quit smoking ASAP and for good! But how? I'd quit smoking like Mark Twain:
Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.
This was different! This time there was no going back EVER! So I searched the webs looking for a way - not to quit - I had that part down just fine - but to STAY QUIT - which in my EXperience is so much more difficult! After all, every time we go to sleep at night, we quit for 8 hours! The problem is going back....
So I had to Start Over for LIFE! And I stumbled, literally, onto BecomeanEX! I had never blogged before in my life! I knew nothing about the ettiquette of writing in a very public place yet EXposing myself enough to get real help! For me, there was something embarrassing about the whole thing - the smoking and the COPD! It didn't fit in with my image of myself AT ALL! To admit that I, Thomas, who barely smoked at all, was an ADDICT jonesing for my FIX like those junkies on the TV show Intervention - well, it wasn't easy! But I was faced with the real FACT of COPD - a smoking-related illness! It doesn't get any more reall than being reminded every darn time you take a breath!!!!
There's something magical about releasing old EXpectations and floating out into the unknown looking for a NEW ME! And there is no way I could have been able to do that if I didn't have my Great New Friends here at BecomeanEX to talk me through it - to reassure me that the other side of this process is EXcellent! I listened - I READ the websites recommended - I paid attention - and I gave it my all - because Smoking was not - is not - an option for me NO MATTER WHAT!
In the end I changed my perspective because of 2 things:
I kept them away from my face
and
I used Positive Affirmations to retrain my brain!
It wasn't something that a pill, patch, gum, etc., could give to me! It had to come from within!
That's why I started a Group called Positive Affirmations for Success! - because it made a BIG DIFFERENCE in my ability to protect my Quit! It wasn't willpower! It was focus and determination!
https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/positive-affirmations-and-support
Make this your FOREVER QUIT! Learn what it takes for YOU to Stay Smoke FREE for LIFE! If I can do it - you can, too!
