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Share your quitting journey

Excuses

JonesCarpeDiem
4 4 70

      I admit, the last time I really sat down and played guitar and sang full voice for 40 minutes has been a couple years.

      Singing and playing when you are focused, take a ton of energy. By focused,I mean everything flowing perfectly.

      The words rolling off the tongue, the guitar subtly supporting the other space.

I used to do five 45 minute sets a night when I was on the road.

I was in my teens and twenties then.

GOD I'M OLD!
      So two days ago, I picked up my acoustic electric bass and took it outside when I took Hoggie out for his morning adventure. (eating grass and throwing up) and I was sitting in my chair playing it and the thought that came to me was

"Gee my arm is tired! Gee this neck is long."

      It's kind of like when you're young in your quit and you hit the wall and are ready to give up.

      I've lost my touch of picking up a bass on the spur of the moment to play with other musicians and all the excitement and dopamine that brings.

       How can I get it back?  I know what I had. I know what I want. I want to play bass the way I want to anytime I want.

      Have you thought about how much you want to be a non smoker?

You have to look ahead, past the drug, past the thinking of smoking and back to what life was, before you needed to smoke.

      I know that's hard to remember that far back to when smoking took over. Most of us started in our teens.

      I know I can get my "bass back" if I'm willing to invest the time and energy to strengthen my arm so it can stay in playing position for a length of time.

I believe it's possible.

Do you believe your quit is in your hands?

It is, you know.

Onward and Upward.

4 Comments
About the Author
Hello, My name is Dale. I was quit 18 months before joining this site and had participated on another site during that time. I learned a lot there and brought it with me. I joined this site the first week of August 2008. I didn't pressure myself to quit. HOW I QUIT I didn't count, I didn't deny myself to get started. When I considered quitting (at a friends request to influence his brother to quit), I simply told myself to wait a little longer. No denial, nothing painful. After 4 weeks I was down to 5 cigarettes from a pack a day. The strength came from proving to myself, I didn't need to smoke because I normally would have smoked. Simple yes? I bought the patch. I forgot to put one on on the 4th day. I needed it the next day but the following week I forgot two days in a row I put one in my wallet with a promise to myself that I would slap it on and wait an hour rather than smoke. It rode in my wallet my first year.There's nothing keeping any of you from doing this. It doesn't cost a dime. This is about unlearning something you've done for a long time. The nicotine isn't the hard part. Disconnecting from the psychological pull, the memories and connected emotions is. :-) Time is the healer.