Become a non-smoker, instead.
Step Five: Doing It, For Real!
I had a wall-of-resistance breaking reason to become a non-smoker. I had told hundreds of people, family--friends--and strangers, that I would become a non-smoker on March 15th. My deceased daughter's birthday was March 16, so the time of the year was powerfully emotional and unhappy for me. People asked why do this now when things are always emotionally tough? Well, my better half suggested a good answer for that: This is a two-for-one deal. I have two hells to get though in one time frame. It made sense to me, and it worked out as I had hoped it would.
I planned for my week-long diet of no caffeine, no alcohol, and no chocolate. I stocked up on my oral substitutes, and I was feeling like a big baby. Geesh! I was a grown up thumb-sucker kind of person. How awful is that, I asked myself. I tried to make sure that I was low on cigarettes, but I had about a half carton on the evening of March 14th. My better half went through all my purses, coats, and other places cigarettes might be lingering, and he destroyed what he found.
I had been psyching myself, getting rid of negative ideas (like fear of being without a cigarette) and acquiring and reinforcing positive ideas. I was going to be a non-smoker! How cool was that! All those people I see around who are non-smokers---I would be like them! I would not need to stand in the cold and rain to make myself sicker and cough more. I would feel clean instead of smelly and dirty! This was going to me the new, better, happier me! Yay! The time was upon me.
By 11:45 p.m. we had destroyed (shredding by me or soaking by my better half) all but five cigarettes. I had been chain smoking all evening, stoking up for the break so-to-speak. Then I was by myself with my last three cigarettes. I turned off the lights, and let my thoughts trace over all the positives. I lit the third-from-last cigarette. I inhaled deeply. I choked and threw up!
I had discovered that the old backyard treatment of smoke 'em until they make you sick actually works! And becoming sick on too many cigarettes is a great way to part company from 49 years of that horrible addiction!
I put out the offending cigarette and then shredded it and the other two. I went to bed, and the next morning I woke to a great, bubbly feeling: I am now a non-smoker!
On March 15, in addition to getting the car detailed, I cleaned house and did a lot of laundry. A few days later, I went on a four day business trip. I drove from Ohio to the DC area. On the way I played a lot of rock-and-roll music and made up my own words. I cannot remember those words now, but one song was the Battle of New Orleans, and I remember something about sending those negative feelings running. Yeah, I really did go all out to give myself good feelings about now being a non-smoker. I still tell people that I have become a non-smoker, and it still feels good to be saying it. Today I told a new-to-me doctor about becoming a non-smoker, and that made me decide that I needed to put it all down in writing--this Web site.
I hope that something about my story helps you in some way. I still have needy moments, but I do not need a cigarette. I do not want a cigarette. The thought of smoking makes me sick. I really like being a non-smoker.
I planned for my week-long diet of no caffeine, no alcohol, and no chocolate. I stocked up on my oral substitutes, and I was feeling like a big baby. Geesh! I was a grown up thumb-sucker kind of person. How awful is that, I asked myself. I tried to make sure that I was low on cigarettes, but I had about a half carton on the evening of March 14th. My better half went through all my purses, coats, and other places cigarettes might be lingering, and he destroyed what he found.
I had been psyching myself, getting rid of negative ideas (like fear of being without a cigarette) and acquiring and reinforcing positive ideas. I was going to be a non-smoker! How cool was that! All those people I see around who are non-smokers---I would be like them! I would not need to stand in the cold and rain to make myself sicker and cough more. I would feel clean instead of smelly and dirty! This was going to me the new, better, happier me! Yay! The time was upon me.
By 11:45 p.m. we had destroyed (shredding by me or soaking by my better half) all but five cigarettes. I had been chain smoking all evening, stoking up for the break so-to-speak. Then I was by myself with my last three cigarettes. I turned off the lights, and let my thoughts trace over all the positives. I lit the third-from-last cigarette. I inhaled deeply. I choked and threw up!
I had discovered that the old backyard treatment of smoke 'em until they make you sick actually works! And becoming sick on too many cigarettes is a great way to part company from 49 years of that horrible addiction!
I put out the offending cigarette and then shredded it and the other two. I went to bed, and the next morning I woke to a great, bubbly feeling: I am now a non-smoker!
On March 15, in addition to getting the car detailed, I cleaned house and did a lot of laundry. A few days later, I went on a four day business trip. I drove from Ohio to the DC area. On the way I played a lot of rock-and-roll music and made up my own words. I cannot remember those words now, but one song was the Battle of New Orleans, and I remember something about sending those negative feelings running. Yeah, I really did go all out to give myself good feelings about now being a non-smoker. I still tell people that I have become a non-smoker, and it still feels good to be saying it. Today I told a new-to-me doctor about becoming a non-smoker, and that made me decide that I needed to put it all down in writing--this Web site.
I hope that something about my story helps you in some way. I still have needy moments, but I do not need a cigarette. I do not want a cigarette. The thought of smoking makes me sick. I really like being a non-smoker.
The Beginning (Not The End)--A Wonderful Life as a Non-Smoker
Don't Quit Smoking by Ida is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dontquitsmoking.weebly.com.