When we first quit, feeling calm and peaceful is something that’s almost impossible! The ride through our addiction begins with many hard days. What we do with those days is what’s important, I think. I found being busy, (even though I was around smokers) to be an important aspect of those first days.
We cannot spend the day just sitting and thinking about the quit and I think if we’re not active on those first days, that’s exactly what we do. Besides, whether we’re quitting or not, life goes on and it’s best to learn to dissociate life from smoking right away! In other words, things that happen in life should have nothing to do with a desire to smoke.
After those first hard days, when the physical withdrawals are over with, we can find peace, though we must really look for it in most cases. It starts with an understanding that it’s now our minds that are causing us discomfort. It’s no longer a physical thing, even if it feels like it is.
For this reason it’s possible to find peace. I found it through visualization, but there are many other ways. Exercise can be key to helping us get past the craves. So can working in the garden, even if we always smoked before when we worked there.
The key during craving days is to change the focus of the mind, I think. Deep breaths are helpful in reminding us that the end goal is better health, and a willingness to be free. Working in the garden can make us feel better simply because we’re nurturing something else and when the task is complete, there’s always a sense of satisfaction, so long as the reward trigger doesn’t get in the way.
These are things to figure out during prep time so what we enjoy isn’t a trigger that we have to worry about. But for me, building that wonderful landscape in my mind where I could relax was a key.
Sure, you have to actively try to find peace on those first days, but eventually that becomes the new habit and when it does, things are just easier.
So I guess my point is that we don’t have to feel horrible after the first days. We can feel good and still keep our quits. Find what distracts you the easiest and you will have a key to peace because once you change the focus of the mind, it kind of breaks the power the addiction has over you.
Once you give your heart and soul a chance to peek through into the new life that you’re creating, it get’s easier. Just don’t dwell on the discomfort. There’s so much positive going on during a quit and you can find a permanent peace so long as you never give up!
The key to a successful quit lives inside of all of us. All we have to do is find the right components and put them together, and we can win!
Well, off to work now.
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
Chuck
