Aa
holiday with family and possible temptations
If your family is anything like my family, then you have a smoker among you and probably the one you smoked with the last time you got together. Just because you aren't smoking doesn't mean you have to cut this person/people off, you just have to relate to them in a new way : ) Good luck today and every day.
From Joel Spitzer's library:
Fixating on a Cigarette
What happens to some people is that when they are off smoking for a certain time period they start fixating on a cigarette. By that I mean they forget all the bad cigarettes they ever smoked, they forget the ones they smoked without ever really thinking about them even at the time they were being smoked, and they start to remember and focus on one good cigarette. It may be one they smoked 20 years earlier but it was a good one and they now want one again.
It's a common tactic for the ex-smokers to try and tell themselves that they do not really want that "good" cigarette. Well, the problem is, at that moment they really do want it. An internal debate erupts, "I want one, no I don't, one sounds great, no it doesn't, oh just one, not just one!" The problem is that if the ex-smoker's focus is on just "one" cigarette then there is no clear-cut winning side to the debate. The ex-smoker needs to change the internal discussion.
Don't say that you don’t want one when you do, rather acknowledge the desire but ask yourself, "Do I want all the other cigarettes that go with it. Then, do I want the package deal that goes with the others? The expense, social stigma, smell, health effects, possible loss of life. Do I want to go back to smoking, full-fledged, until it cripples and kills me?"
Stated like this it normally is not a back and forth debate. The answer will normally be, "No, I don’t want to smoke under these terms," and those are the only terms that a cigarette comes with.
Normally if viewed like this the debate is over almost immediately after being pulled into focus. Again, if the focus is only one, you can drive yourself nuts throughout the entire day. If you focus on the whole package deal, you will walk away from the moment relieved to still be smoke free and sufficiently reinforced to NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!
Joel
From Joel Spitzer's library:
Fixating on a Cigarette
What happens to some people is that when they are off smoking for a certain time period they start fixating on a cigarette. By that I mean they forget all the bad cigarettes they ever smoked, they forget the ones they smoked without ever really thinking about them even at the time they were being smoked, and they start to remember and focus on one good cigarette. It may be one they smoked 20 years earlier but it was a good one and they now want one again.
It's a common tactic for the ex-smokers to try and tell themselves that they do not really want that "good" cigarette. Well, the problem is, at that moment they really do want it. An internal debate erupts, "I want one, no I don't, one sounds great, no it doesn't, oh just one, not just one!" The problem is that if the ex-smoker's focus is on just "one" cigarette then there is no clear-cut winning side to the debate. The ex-smoker needs to change the internal discussion.
Don't say that you don’t want one when you do, rather acknowledge the desire but ask yourself, "Do I want all the other cigarettes that go with it. Then, do I want the package deal that goes with the others? The expense, social stigma, smell, health effects, possible loss of life. Do I want to go back to smoking, full-fledged, until it cripples and kills me?"
Stated like this it normally is not a back and forth debate. The answer will normally be, "No, I don’t want to smoke under these terms," and those are the only terms that a cigarette comes with.
Normally if viewed like this the debate is over almost immediately after being pulled into focus. Again, if the focus is only one, you can drive yourself nuts throughout the entire day. If you focus on the whole package deal, you will walk away from the moment relieved to still be smoke free and sufficiently reinforced to NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!
Joel
I smoked outdoors the last 10 years that I smoked : ) It was my way of absolving myself of the guilt of secondhand smoke. It also kept my walls from looking yellowish brown.
It was difficult last year, but I just kept saying to myself how much better I felt and will continue to feel as time passes. Whatever your motivation was in the beginning, just keep reinforcing it and stay strong Mass. : )
It was difficult last year, but I just kept saying to myself how much better I felt and will continue to feel as time passes. Whatever your motivation was in the beginning, just keep reinforcing it and stay strong Mass. : )
Haha, Its like you were reading my mind!!!!!! LOL I do have 1 sister still that smokes, 1 son and thats it. They have to go outside so I wont be near the smell
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Smoking Cessation Community
Is treating glaucoma with marijuana all hype, or can hemp actually help?
If you think marijuana has no ill effects on your health, this article from Missouri Medicine may make you think again.
Julia Aharonov, DO, reveals the quickest way to beat drug withdrawal.
Tricks to help you quit for good.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
