We do this blog every Wednesday afternoon to offer encouragement and camaraderie to those in No Man’s Land -- months 2-3-4 of a quit. Regardless of how long you’ve been quit, anyone who likes the conversation and wants to offer support is welcome to participate!
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This week’s topic: Sudden Stress
For so many years or even decades, we associated smoking with stress relief. In times of stress your brain is going to gravitate toward what it knows. That’s not something you can change in just a couple of months. So plan ahead – when a major stress hits you, how will you defeat the urge to smoke? What will you say to yourself, what action will you take, to drive away the sudden and powerful belief your brain will have, seemingly out of nowhere, that a cigarette would be helpful? PRACTICE it now, so you’re prepared when it happens!
Sudden stress = smoking thought = acknowledge = dismiss
“Yes I acknowledge that part of me thinks I want a cigarette. But, I don’t want all the other cigarettes that would come with it. I also realize this is just my addiction attacking me in a weak moment. So there’s no point in dwelling on this thought. Instead, I’m going to turn my attention back toward resolving this stressful situation.”
Quitting smoking is a skill, and like any other skill, it takes practice. As you progress through No Man’s Land, you will put all of your new skills to work!
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If you're in NML right now, give a shout! Reach out and find each other!
Click here to read Dale’s helpful blog about No Man’s Land: https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007-blog/2011/05/24/no-mans-land-da...
