Number one motivation is that your throat's killing you. And your allergies don't like it. And it's expensive. So let's begin with that motivation. Pretty basic, right? Except it really means nothing when you've grown dependent upon something. Because we make a list of all the reasons we shouldn't, doesn't mean a thing until we find the "thing" that says we can, the thing that says we must. The "thing" that we can connect to emotionally and psychologically that moves us past the dependent/addictive "thing." I'm speaking from my own experience here. I knew all the reasons I shouldn't smoke. But I never found one that made me want to quit more. Or enabled me to. Because an addiction doesn't care about our reasoning. But WE do. And we know better. And we aren't stupid. We're just weak in the face of it. But there is always that thing I call the "Best of you" that little beautiful thing within us that keeps niggling and whispering and saying "you know you shouldn't do this. You know you should quit. And you know you can. TRY."
I didn't want to quit the last time I quit. (I never wanted to quit any time I quit.) Not really. I just knew I should. And my husband was niggling at me. And I was tired of the niggling. I was tired of my own brain - that Best part of me - niggling at me. And you know, it wasn't much of a motivation, but what ended up being my motivation to remain smoke-free, once I had agreed and had some days under my belt was I NEVER WANTED TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS AGAIN! And I haven't. And it's been 14 years.
This is that Best of you speaking very loudly: "I’m making excuses to myself like, “maybe I’ll just get 1 can”. You know the truth. You know what it's doing to you. So you just have to plug into that "thing" that you can agree with to stop it. Yes, it's going to pull at you. Yes, it's not going to be comfortable. Yes, it's going to be hard. Do you want to stop? Or not? And if you really do - then nothing CAN stop you.
9 years is a long time. I smoked a pack and a half a day for over 35 years. If I can do it, YOU can. If all of us can do it - YOU can. If you're struggling to "do it again," it means you obviously wanna get this done. So get it done. DO it this time. Once and for all. (Doesn't matter if it's smoking or chawing or vaping or sucking it up through your eyes - dependence on it is the same.) Stand fast to your commitment, stand tall, stand proud. You will NEVER regret that. But you will always regret going back.
(How's that for motivation?)
