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Give and get support around quitting

Serendipity

Serendipity means a "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise".I have my own take on this - the Hand of God in the Lives of Mankind! 

I had that moment of Serendipity this morning when I was looking for ways for me to change with the new format. I did what I generally do - research. And I came upon this article about change that has as much to do with Nicotine Addiction as it does with new realities. 

They say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" but I work in Assisted Living and see it every day! Actually aging is all about change! So perhaps it's time to recognize that nothing can be further from the truth!

We often feel like we've smoked for so many Years that change is impossible but I challenge that belief as just another Nico-Lie! For new Readers - Nico-Lies are caused by Nicotine Addicted Neurotransmitters that have been hijacked in our Brains. But you can reclaim the Neurotransmitters and make the Lies stop! That is Nicotine Recovery!

So here is the article I found - just change the word alcohol for nicotine and the exact same principles apply!

https://psychcentral.com/lib/stages-of-change/ 

Stages of Change:

    • Reluctant precontemplators are those who through lack of knowledge or inertia do not want to consider change. The impact of the problem has not become fully conscious.
    • Rebellious precontemplators have a heavy investment in drinking and in making their own decisions. They are resistant to being told what to do.
    • Resigned precontemplators have given up hope about the possibility of change and seem overwhelmed by the problem. Many have made many attempts to quit or control their drinking.
    • Rationalizing precontemplators have all the answers; they have plenty of reasons why drinking is not a problem, or why drinking is a problem for others but not for them.precontemplatio
  • contemplation
  • determination
  • action
  • maintenance
  • termination

On this website I am a reluctant precontemplator. But I have moved into determination and action. I will continue to strive little by little to gain my control over my goals in this framework! 

Heck, I beat Nicotine Addiction - the most challenging Substance Addiction to Quit!

This is a piece of cake!

 

God's hand is at work each and every day - Serendipity!

Tags (2)
3 Replies
Daniela2016
Member

Thank you Thomas, this is beautiful!

I would like to add a personal story about change and elderly to prove your point.

While working in a nursing home, and going to school in a field less known learning in how to educate, and rehabilitate kids with disabilities through movement, I decided to work on my final presentation electing elderly instead. The argument was as kids are growing into learning, the elderly have to re-learn lost abilities

Once I got approved by the Management of the Nursing home, I started my weekly sessions by bringing in floor mattresses, colored balls and silk shawls.  The participants were all ladies, they came to the first session wearing hills, and beautiful dresses, their hair freshly done, and little purses, much like they were attending some kind of social event. 

And we started the session with little balls, and they were touching parts of the body with the balls, and massaging those parts using their tools.  Then we "walked" using music as background and were playing with shawls, throwing them in the air and catching them.  It seems easy right?  Well, just think at the type of movement they had to execute just for these little exercises, they might have not done for years.  We finished the session with maybe 10 min relaxation on the floor mattresses.  One lady fell asleep, and I had to slowly bring her back to an awaken state, so she can walk back to her room safely.  At the end of 5th sessions we were going to tape the work we were doing so I can present it in school, and you can imagine my shock when all my participants were wearing multicolored leggings and comfortable shirts, what a metamorphosis. 

The work I presented was largely acclaimed.  And it proved my point, that at any age, a person is still able to change, and evolve, and acquire new skills, or re-discover lost skills.  Needless to say, all of them improved in terms of social skills, communication and self-esteem!

And I believe quitting smoking and using a support group like ours can do the same thing for us.  We do not need to be elderly! 

While smoking, even if we had "smoking buddies" we were outcasts for the rest of the community, at gatherings we were pretty much isolated by the larger group of non-smokers, and missing interactions because of having to be outside smoking most of the time, we felt bad about our "vice", ashamed, and lacking confidence: after all, every small initiative we were taking needed the "courage" of a cigarette before doing whatever, at least it was how I felt.

Well, not anymore!

Serendipity?

Daniela 324 DOFs

Silverstar
Member

Thomas, it was a happy accident to have found this site, and I am grateful for that serendipitous event.  Thanks again for your thoughtful research, on topic.  We have this!

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Strudel
Member

Thanks Thomas! 

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