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January 25, 2012 by Anacondahead
Sorry to the old timers out there - you've seen this letter many times but I want to put it up again for the newbies. I saw several posts today about smoking family members - what a pain! This letter may help.
Dear______,
I am about to make a huge change in my life for the better. I am going to quit smoking.
I have a quit plan that I am confident with and I want to let you know what to expect for the next couple of weeks. I also want to give you some ideas on how to help me. Most people do not realize it, but nicotine is one of the hardest drugs to stop, even harder than heroin and alcohol.
Everyone reacts to the withdrawal symptoms differently and during the first two weeks, don't expect much from me. I will not behave like my normal self. All of my energy will be focused on fighting the physical and mental cravings of smoking. I may cry, I may yell, I may ignore you. Worst of all, I may be hurtful to you, but I want you to know that is the nicotine talking, not my heart. I WILL apologize afterwards, once the poison has left my body and my mind has cleared, but for the moment, please, PLEASE remember that I love you, and do not hold my actions against me.
My mind will play some very cunning tricks on me to try to convince me to start smoking again. It’s a very nasty addiction. I may rationalize that "now is not a good time to quit". I may talk about feeling a sense of emptiness and loss. My body may develop aches and pains. I may not be able to sleep. I may act like it’s all your fault. If I do, I apologize now because I don’t really mean it.
I am doing this for me, not for you. In this one important way, I have to be selfish, so that I cannot give the nicotine a reason to put the blame on anyone else. You must not feel responsible for my discomfort or depression in any way. Even if you feel you can't stand to see me this way, whatever you do, do NOT tell me it's okay to smoke just to stop the pain. You need to be strong when I am weak, so please do not agree with any rationalizations I may come up with. I am counting on you.
Here are some things that will help me:
I hope you will find these suggestions helpful because I know that you are behind me 100%. No more second-hand smoke for my loved ones and pet(s). I will be free from the prison that smoking creates for us. I will be free of the smell of stale tobacco. I am looking forward to living my new smoke-free life. I will be around longer for those I love. Not smoking will begin to improve my health immediately.
Thank you for loving me and helping me through this.
Love, _______
I've never saw this, thank you for sharing.
Marilyn
396 D0F
Thanks Thomas for bringing it to my attention.
Thank you copied this and put it on my front door thanks Thomas.
This is AWESOME !!!.......couldn't have said it better myself....
Thank you!
xoxoxo
This is so great. I wonder if anyone out there is in a situation (like I am) where they have a spouse that also smokes. They say that they would like to quit, but they are not willing to join a group like this, or really develop a plan. I don't think that my spouse really recognizes how crazy of an addiction nicotine is and that there needs to be a plan to quit.
I don't have spouse that smokes, but it you enter that on the search option, there are lots of posts of quitters in that situation.
I dont have a spouse that smokes i have a spouse that didnt want me to quit smoking he even went as far as buying packs of smokes that i didnt smoke for the 1st few months of my quit. I dont no which is worst i have this love letter on my fridge and read it daily.
I have seen this before but it never gets old. It's a beautiful letter and I am going to bookmark it. I'd like to be able to pull it up when I feel like I want to share it with someone.
Thanks for posting.
Ellen
Beautiful thanks Guila.
Lillian