What will it take for you not to go to the store and buy a pack? What will it take for you to stop and think before you puff ? The only answer I had was to be serious ... dead serious to take the right action and don't smoke no matter what .
Would it be hard ? I had no doubt it would be . Was I willing to give in . Nope , I was not . No more trying , doing !
Each cigarette smoked takes MULTIPLE actions til the actual first puff is lit .
One You buy them , unwrapped the binding , then disgaurded the cellophane .
Two You take out the silver or gold lining , then gently take out the first one .
Three Next you reached for a lighter , play with a sec then
Four Put the cigarette to your lips ,
Five You flick the Bic not once maybe twice or more ,then light .
Six Then you inhaled your first drag of soot , tar and smoke and coughed .
At least six opportunities for you not to take the first puff but you do .The first puff is no mistake . The first puff is planned !
The second puff is easier than the first . Steps one through five you have a chance to change your mind but one leads to two ... a puff is never enough .
The good news !
It can take only ONE action to interfere with a crave and save a quit if you choose to . Don't buy them , don't borrow them , don't beg for one and don't steal . Don't take another puff ever ! Say no ?
What will you do if the crave becomes that bad ?
It took guts and courage to repeatedly say five simple words to temptation . I didn't realize I had the courage to do so , I just did it . No ,I would say , I will not smoke . I repeated them like a broken record .
It was followed by " I will do something different " Sometimes that was by cryiing all day , or punching a pillow while screaming at addiction , or playing games til the wee hours of the morning or staying on my support site ALL day . Walking the mall , buying a pack , but repeatedly never opening them and throwing it away or opening it and dousing the whole bunch of them in water . Best three packs I ever burnt up were doused in water .
Cleaning of course is a staple distraction for most of us , but what else would help you when things get bad ?
I like to call them thought interference aides .
When you are out of control and want to relieve that crave with a cigarette ask yourself what can you do instead of .
Always remember you can post before you smoke if you have your phone or in your home . Put pride aside . I changed my attitude about reaching out to the community when I struggled. I quit seeing it as weakness and began seeing it as strength and willingness to do something even if it was uncomfortable in order to succeed . Allow others to help , it's a win win win , because what you believe maybe is your weakness may give others strength knowing their not alone .
I remember reaching out a lot that first six months ! I could have felt embarrassed , but I wanted and needed to quit and if I felt embarrassed then oh well I thought . I soon learned there were others just like me . I don't regret asking for help to recover , it helped me forward and the people today who helped me are still remembered as a special part of my journey .
It took changing my thoughts , taking charge and staying away from smoking even when those craves crashed with brutal force . I had to be the wall of strength that prevented the thought of smoking from overflowing and taking my quit with it and use the community as my lighthouse to keep safe . That light never went out. It was always there for me and it will always be there for you too .
What kind of thinking will it take for you to change to keep your quit ? What will you do differently or have you done differently ?
