Holiday Cheers and Warnings

[Giulia]

For all of you who have quit - be proud, stand tall, and persevere.   Whether it be one hour, one day, one month or 4 years.  The cost is great.  The journey rough, the results oh so worth it.  You will NEVER regret qutting.  You will  ALWAYS regret failing at it.

Family get togethers can be very stressful.  Buttons are gonna be pushed in ways you never dreampt of.   Glasses of wine and beer and the hard stuff are gonna make your mind fuzzy and your resistance lax.  There will be every excuse in the book to start smoking again.  Sadness, anger, angst, envy, ruefulness, bliss, turmoil, stress, glee, pain, confusion,....EVERY excuse.  Before you succumb to that excuse,  think about a couple of things:  how much this has cost so far, and do you want to pay that pentalty again.  Do you want to have another Day One?  You've achieved what you've achieved.  And that has taken an enormous amount of effort.  Do you want to give that up?  NO!

You can do this thing called Quitting with a capital Q.  Because you've got the strength to hang on one more day.  And that's all it takes.  One more day.  And then the next.  Simply one day at time.  Because tomorrow will be different.  And when you awaken smoke free tomorrow - it'll be worth the agony of tonight. 

Hang tight everybody.  And Merry Christmas.

Giulia

[drea4]

Thanks! I needed that. Here's to one more day!

[lacy3]

this was sooo needed. tonight was the worst night of all for me, family all together, mom smoking around me constantly.. drinking... stress.. everything going on all at once. and worst of all, my patch fell off earlier today and i didn't put another one on... i realized i can't quit without those things. and that made me feel like the biggest loser of all time.. but thank you for this..

[Giulia]

Lacy, you are not the biggest loser of all time and you don't need the damn patch.  You CAN quit without those things.  You ARE strong enough.  Just say NO louder than the demon says "YES, I WANT".  But if you think you aren't strong enough, then slap that patch right back on.  The name of the game is....whatever works to keep you smoke free, you do it.  Stand on your head and count backwards from 100.  Whatever.  Distract your brain from it's persistence.  Force yourself to focus on something else.  Especially something totally new.  Because nothing will grab our brain faster than something it's never participated in before.  Experiment..  And, as odd as this may be to hear - HAVE FUN.  And make fun of the misery of the experience.  Laugh at it.  You are so not alone in the process.  Find the humor of it.  Don't just let it beat you down.  FIGHT!

[JoAnne5-14-2008]

Right on Giulia.  This is a time when we can use our greatest strength and will power to beat any relapse trap that may rear its ugly head.  Dig deep inside and find the courage that is in you to say.  I CAN AND I WILL REMAIN SMOKE FREE.  You'll be so glad you put your foot down and kept it down. 

[Rick_M]

Thanks for always being there Giulia. It is going to be a good new year. Hanging on......