I went out for a beer with a co-worker after work yesterday. Driving home later that night I had an absolutely INTENSE craving. This startled me; I'm at day 55 and clearly no longer in withdrawal. I couldn't understand where it came from.
Then it hit me: this was the first time I had gone out since I quit smoking. So this was the first time I got hit with the after-drinking trigger.
My number one trigger is driving. I have resisted that one at least 100 times, so that particular habit is broken (or at least fading). I haven't had to resist the after-drinking trigger before, so it was full-color. It will probably take me a few more times of pushing through that trigger before it fades to nothing.
I was pondering other situations where I got hit with a trigger "out of the blue"; like going to a certain store. I used to smoke in that parking lot (trees for shade). The first time I went back there after I had been quit maybe a week, was really tough. I was practically hyperventilating.
The lesson for me is to be aware. I don't know how many triggers I have out there, laying in wait, ready to pounce.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
PT
Day 56
