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Whenever Someone Asks Me If I'm Claustrophobic

JonesCarpeDiem
2 0 89

I have a story for them.

      When I was 18, I went on a summer tour with the Young Americans. This was in 1967 when their movie from Columbia pictures came out so the tour was somewhat promotional.   The Young Americans Movie in The Young Americans (Vintage Videos) on Vimeo 

      They leased a double deck bus and a driver from Greyhound for a summer and that's how we traveled.

      The girls didn't want to go down to the bus until their makeup was on and they had finally selected the outfit they would wear. Therefore, we couldn't get their bags packed under the bus neatly and before we left because of all the varying sizes. We would have large suitcases in the aisle and you couldn't even stand up to stretch. That was the one time I was claustrophobic in my life.

      So I figured out a solution. I told everyone from then on to have their bags outside their doors 1 hour before departure and I picked up everyone's bags at their doors and packed the bus myself every time we moved, for the rest of the tour.

      As you proceed with your quit, there will be obstacle in the form of difficult circumstances and emotions. You must find the solutions to them. You are the only one who can.  That's what makes our quits different.

      At the end of the tour they called each of us in for extra charges past our per diem. They wanted to back charge me $400 for extra food. I explained my solution to the travel problem and the extra time involved and calories expended and it was dismissed.

The film won the academy award for best documentary that year. There had been a screening in a small Southern town a week before it was allowed and it was later disqualified.

BTW

Smoking is claustrophobic BECAUSE IT TRAPS US IN IT'S LIFESTYLE but,

we can't realize that until we stop doing it.

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.