When I first quit smoking I jumped through hoops to protect my quit! I skipped breaks at work. I recruited my Wife to put gasoline in the car for awhile. I rearranged my social calendar. When I mean anything it takes I mean whatever it takes NO MATTER WHAT!
100 days into my Quit Journey I got laid off right in the midst of the big recession. I didn’t panic and I didn’t smoke! Smoking would have done absolutely nothing for me!
6 Months into my Quit Journey my beloved Godmother – my guiding light –passed away! I didn’t smoke! Smoking wouldn’t have helped me in any way!
At 1 Year I had the strangest out-of-the-blue thoughts about smoking! BUT I didn’t smoke! I wanted to make it to Day 366 which honestly is just as important if not more important than 365, right?
I can’t now remember when but one day well after that I was driving down the street in a very mundane and normal way when WHOA the thought came into my idiot head, “A cigarette would taste pretty darn good right about now!” WHAT!?! That was a thought and by then I knew that a thought is simply a thought! I didn’t smoke because I don’t have to obey thoughts. I get to decide! And truthfully, a cigarette always tastes like doodoo! What’s more, even if it did taste better than Swiss Dark Chocolate it wouldn’t be worth becoming a slave over!
Months later one day I found myself mesmerized by a tobacco shop I happened to be parked in front of with it’s signs of cheap cigarettes! Mesmerized! I mean totally hypnotized! BUT I didn’t go in, I didn’t buy and I didn’t smoke! Who cares if killing yourself is done cheaply? You’re still dying, right?
Another time I was in a quick store and without even using my brain, when I got to the counter I heard myself say robotically, “Marlboro Red 100s in the hard pack….” WTHeck???? Then immediately I said, “Cancel that! I don’t DO that anymore! Thank You anyway!” I paid for some gum and left! You see, I may have said the words but I undid the action! It’s never too late to back out of the addictive transaction of buying sickerettes!!!!! NEVER!
Just 2 summers ago, I was so close to tossing my quit that I blogged HELP! Some people didn’t take me seriously! BUT enough did that I got the support I needed to stop myself from making a colossal mistake! Thank GOD! I had twisted my poor brain into a pretzel with Nico-Lies and needed help to think clearly! That’s what a HELP! Blog can do for you – untwist the knots! AND I didn’t smoke!
There isn’t a single one of us who didn’t have to nurture and protect our Quit! We are all Addicts! There isn’t a single one of us who hasn’t had to face his/her demons both personal and junkie! What makes a successful quitter isn’t being lucky enough to not have bad days – very, very bad days – What makes a successful quitter is somebody rather typical, very much like you ( and me) who will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to Live TODAY Smoke FREE! It’s that important to us! That’s all! No lucky genes, no secret wisdom, no magic powers! Just ordinary folks who commit to doing the extraordinary thing of becoming an EX for LIFE!
You CAN do this!
