Hang on!
I'm a queen of self-defeating talk. That little devil on my shoulder whispers unkind things to me a lot, and sometimes in really sneaky ways. If it's not "isn't it time to smoke?" then it's "my life is SO HARD and I'm SO STRESSED," which leads us back to, "isn't it time to smoke?" :)
This sounds silly, but naming my nicodemon has really helped. It's like I can actually see myself having a conversation with this chemical. His name is Vlad. Sometimes I get that condescending tone with him that a bouncer at a night club might use. "I'm sorry, fella, but I'm going to have to show you out." Sometimes I use my Mom voice with him. "Not now, Vlad. After I've posted and gotten fifteen replies, then we'll see about smoking." Sometimes I use a cop voice. "Mr. Vlad, this is a no-smoking section. You'll have to move along, now." It helps me to take the crave a little less seriously, to see it as something I can face and that will back down.
You're making one of the most important changes you can possibly make for your long-term health. You're also giving up something that has helped you through whatever difficulties life has thrown at you while you were a smoker. You can focus on the giving up part, or you can focus on the wonderful gift you're giving yourself. Choose the latter. Choose the latter. Choose the latter.
Life is so good. Take a breath of fresh air, and notice that you can smell it now. (There are honeysuckles blooming in the woods behind my house -- I've never enjoyed them more than now.) Peel and eat an orange slowly and carefully, and enjoy how fresh it tastes and that you can fully taste it now. If you have kids, kiss them. If you don't, kiss your pet. Kiss your mom. Kiss somebody, because you're giving them hours and days and years more of yourself, because you won't have died of some awful disease. If you're a woman of faith, pray -- for help and in thanksgiving.
Keep coming back here. Read everything you can find. Read the posts that seem to apply to you and the ones that don't, because even if they don't apply now, they might later. Stay close by, where there are lots of people who know exactly what you're going through.
You can do this, and you're worth every minute of it.
Fear Less
[i]Lov
