cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Share your quitting journey

Hello, SUMMER!

Thomas3.20.2010
0 3 14

image

  Summer is a Great Time that we can choose to reevaluate our priorities and start anew! 
   
  This is a Wonderful time of year to think about where we are in life and dream about what we would become! Webster says that become means to begin to be something specified. Thus, BecomeanEX doesn't mean that you only join if you already have the mindset of an EX. It doesn't mean that you will be somehow zapped into EX-dom because you enrolled. It means that we enter and we begin to become. We don't have to be flawlessly anything when we get here. We only have to have a curiosity about what being an EX might mean to us individually. 
   
  As we read the Blogs, again and again, we see folks at all stages of Quititude. Some are searching for it, some are glimpsing it, some are testing it, some are growing with it and it with them and some own it fiercely! That can't be found in any device.
   
  
   It starts with openness toward learning more. Too often I see folks who bring their "My Way" attitudes rather than openness. If you already have the Successful way - then what are you doing here?  
  
     
  
   We're told to FOCUS on the positive side of quitting, to count our blessings and benefits of Smoke FREE Living. Some of us do that and we move forward with amazing smoothness, leaving others to think that they had it "easy" for some unEXplainable reason. In fact, it isn't any more difficult or complicated for one of us than for another. We are all Nicotine Addicts! But when you FOCUS on the FREEDOM of Recovery rather than on the "sacrifices" of quitting it is not only more understandable - it's more desirable. That makes it easy to maintain DETERMINATION! Focus and Determination - 2 very important ingredients of PERSEVERENCE! We can all persevere even when we think we can't. 
  
     
  
   Here are some ways to maximize our motivation: 
  
     
  
   (1) Draw inspiration from others 
  
     
  
   Be they certain individuals here who EXemplify Quititude or the general fact that:  
  
     
  
   Percentage of smokers who want to quit altogether    70% 
  
   Percentage of smokers who will try to quit this year    40% 
  
   Percentage of smokers who will succeed at quitting smoking without relapse    6%. Make up your Mind right here and now that you will be one of the 6%! There's absolutely no reason that you can't! NO EXCUSES! 
  
     
  
   (2) Don't think; just act 
  
     
  
   Thinking is vital and much of human folly happens because we don't think. We can think ourselves out of problems, around situations, into solutions - but also out of doing what we should. "I can't go on" is a thought that may be useful or it may be self-deception. If you have to keep on, then start to ignore these kinds of thoughts. When times are tough, sometimes we need to just keep on without thinking until the 'nose down to the grindstone' times have passed. 
  
     
  
   
    (3) Strengthen your Quititude by EXercising it  
   
       
   
    Quititude, like a muscle, gets stronger the more you use it. So remember that even when it feels tough, it will get easier. The more you EXercise your Focus and Determination, the more naturally motivated you will begin to feel.  
   
       
   
    (4)  Think about what you really want  
   
       
   
    Really think about what your Values are. Make a list of the values most important to you: life, family, love, work, fun etc. Recognize that there's no right or wrong answer - these are     your values! Then ask yourself if you are living these values. How is smoking enhancing them? Think about this -   
   
       
   
    Suppose I select Family as my value. In what ways does smoking help my Family Life? In what ways would quitting help me invest in my Family rather than my Sickerette?  
   
       
   
    (5) Never give up!  
   
       
   
    If your intentions are good and you keep working, something will happen - even if it's not exactly what you had planned. If you do nothing, nothing happens.  
   
       
   
    "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."  
   
    - Thomas A. Edison   
   
       
   
    Be patient with yourself! How many years was your Brain hijacked by Addiction? It will take a few comparatively short Months to recover your FREEDOM! But it can be done and we can show you how! All you have to do to get started is show up with curiosity and a willingness to learn!  
  
   
3 Comments
About the Author
63 years old. 20 year smoker. 11 Years FREE! Diagnosed with COPD. Choosing a Quality LIFE! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. -Galatians 5:1