Craving Buster Technique

[Giulia]

(Note:  this piece was first published in a blog by @aztec  back in 2012 called  Craving - EX Community    The original author april_ac was from another site.  Thank you Aztec for bringing it here!)

We interupt todays broadcast..for a test! (TRY THIS!)

Ok...especially you newbies...I want you to REALLY try this.

Don't give me that "AWWW Man!!" It's not a hard test!! More of an "exercise"!

I want you to stop what you are doing right now....and look around the room. Look at everything. Take your time. (Don't read any further until you do that.)

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Now...I want you to look around the room AGAIN...and this time find all of the things that are RED. FOCUS on the things that are RED. REALLY look at them! (Don't read any further until you do that.)

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This time....look around and find all of the things that are BLUE. Again...FOCUS on only the stuff that is Blue. REALLY look at them! (Don't read any further until you do that.)

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Now....look around the room ONE more time. (Don't read any further until you do that.)

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Did the things that were Red and BLUE stand out to you the most?? Probably! Know why? Because THAT is what you were FOCUSING on!

Do ya see where I'm going with this??

WHATEVER you focus on the MOST....is what will be stronger...stand out more....become MORE dominate. JUST LIKE CRAVINGS!! If you FOCUS for too long on the craving...it GETS STRONGER.

So...SHIFT your focus AWAY from the craving!

What do you mean you can't do that....that it's too hard??? You just DID IT in that little mental exercise a minute ago!!! How much were you focusing on smoking while you were looking around the room...focusing on the Red and Blue stuff?? Probably not much...if at ALL!

It DOES work.

While I don't crave cigarettes anymore...I do have other areas of my life where I use that exercise. Sometimes it's needed to RE-focus on the GOOD things I have...when I'm feeling down. It gets my mind AWAY from the "pity party" state.

Make this work for you. It's your quit....It's your life.

And it's worth fighting for!

Thanks for playing along!! You may now go back to your regularly scheduled programs!

[Giulia]

Nice to see you're doing your homework Lauralives‌!

[vroesner]

Sounds cool will have to try this 

[Wisteria]

Nearly 4 years after you originally posted this and look at the mileage it's still getting!  Thank you SO much.  This is going to help me a lot.

[CommunityAdmin]

Wisteria wrote:

Nearly 4 years after you originally posted this and look at the mileage it's still getting!  Thank you SO much.  This is going to help me a lot.

No kidding, right?  Actually aztec‌ first posted in 2012 (/blogs/aztec-blog/2012/06/07/craving ). Lesson is... never underestimate the power of things that were posted as far back as decade ago.... What works for you and is unearthed may help others today or tomorrow.

Mark
EX Community Manager

[vroesner]

This is an exercise I also use when having anxiety attack. Awsomeness!!

[us4hvnbnd]

I enjoyed the exersice. I do see that I can take my focus off of the ciggs

[Giulia]

Glad it helped.

[ShellCecil]

Cleaver!

[McCarron]

I totally get what you are driving at. It makes so much sense. Thank you!

[sweetplt]

Wow so true...Thank you for sharing...I am putting this on my list to try when craves come.