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Share your quitting journey

Keep what works 52/90

PastTense
Member
9 6 92

I realize that I have written a lot about tools for quitting and what is working for me.

The operative phrase here is “what is working for me”. I would like to spend some time on that thought because I keep forgetting to apply it.

Sometimes I get annoyed at posts that offer advice when I haven’t asked for it and frankly don’t want it. For the moment, let’s set aside the probably correct assumption that whether I want it or not; I definitely need it. Getting advice I don’t want makes me cranky. Cranky and sullen and surly and even a little hostile. In a word, I react like a spoiled brat.

I don’t need no stinkin’ help. I can do this all by myself. Yes, I am a full-grown toddler.

So here is a thought. Maybe that piece of advice wasn’t directed at me. Maybe somebody else needs to hear it. OR, maybe it is directed at me and I’m not ready to hear it. It might take hearing it multiple times before I am ready for it. OR, maybe it isn’t applicable to me in any way and I can just leave it be.

If it isn’t for me, then it isn’t for me.

On the other hand, I have gotten terrific insights from many of the posts here that weren’t even directed at me. Ideas like; “You have to quit smoking to be a non-smoker”. I kid you not; that was a revelation.

You never know what someone else needs to hear during their quit. There are all kinds of ideas and approaches and opinions on this site. Take what you need and leave the rest.

Keep the quit

PT

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