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Share your quitting journey

Spinning

JonesCarpeDiem
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Those feelings that make you think of smoking.

      When you're young in your quit and your emotions start spinning, you are remembering the feeling of the drug, and how you felt, how it grounded you, gave you time to think and just shut everything down for 5-10 minutes.

      Later in your quit, you aren't fooled by those memories of the drug. You've learned that one puff will start the cycle all over again.

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      We chose to let smoking ground us.

You need to find something that grounds you when your emotions are spinning.

I would suggest, the quickest way to ground yourself is self talk.

I used "I don't do that anymore."  That phrase slowed me down so my quit was still important and, I didn't just throw it away.

      I like that phrase because it's not harsh. If you analyze it, it's just a reminder.

What's so magical about it, is that it works and nothing will retrain your thinking faster than a continued reminder

Think about it. Find Your Reminder.

      It doesn't have to sound mean or harsh or angry. You could make it funny like "Nag nag nag nag nag." 

      Quitting smoking isn't about being angry but it becomes that for some. They're angry that they can't smoke. What they really are is frustrated.

They are frustrated they can't do what they're used to doing.

      Frustration is what takes new quitters back to smoking.

Smoking became the connection to our memories and emotions and, routines.

This is why we have to unlearn smoking. That is why time is the healer.

      A reminder disconnects you. Find your reminder, and use it.

That phrase will become your shutoff switch and save your quit over and over.

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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.