I FINALLY got back into walking following a recent health issue and just made it back home, beating the impending rain. And I am pleased to report that I added another block of distance as I explore a new route.
I am dedicated to walking at least 5 days a week-- though I prefer a daily jaunt as it clears my mind and calms my soul (not to mention the health benefits it brings.)
I am determined this leg of my quit will be my forever one and that I will never smoke another cigarette.
Since I still experience urges to smoke -- on a daily basis-- I need to practice the art of distraction. As I've mentioned before, "interventions" that are working best for me at this point in my quit are listening to and singing along with gospel music and walking the streets of my neighborhood.
Another common distraction for the recovering smoker is the use of humor. As example, I am re-posting a prior submission of mine, compliments of Project Forgive.
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Who can say no to a cute little puppy, right?
Although I do have a soft spot for little puppies, I am truly a sucker for itty bitty baby kitties.
In our neighborhood we have a small colony of feral cats. And it has stayed small due to the efforts of a caring neighbor who stepped in a few years ago to trap and get them "fixed" at the SPCA. She even took in the kittens and socialized them so they could be fixed then adopted out through that local chapter.
But when I moved here eight years ago, there were cats and kittens everywhere. And I wanted to feed and care for the whole bunch of them, especially once wintertime arrived. But this thought was highly frowned upon by my landlady (understandably). Thankfully they found shelter under the large porches of the neighborhood Victorians and someone nearby was leaving out opened bags of dried cat food for them to eat.
Once spring came, the little ones would arrive. You'd see them trailing after their Moms as they'd investigate the yards and she'd train them in the ways of hunting. There were orange tigers, various patterns of white and black, some were grey, and others were mixtures of all colors. Some had crooked tails, a few had none. It's a good thing they were skittish toward humans as I just wanted to pick up and cuddle these little balls of fur.
When I got my Cat Mr. Flurry through the local SPCA, I became friends with Sandy, his "foster Mom." Sandy recognized my insane love for cats and tried to convince me to also become an SPCA foster mom. Luckily, I listened to my inner voice that loudly screamed " NO!!! "
In my heart of hearts, I just knew that when the time came, I could never let them go!
IN OTHER WORDS:
COLLECT DAYS OF FREEDOM, NOT CATS!!
