Under a lot of stress

[Evelyn]

I'm under a lot stress and in conflict. In this kinda situation I'd buy a pack. I don't want to let the pressure go so high that I actusally do it!

I'm craving one, but there's no such thing as just one!

 

Yesterday was close, today even closer - so I throw I sos in the forums

[Dentalfloss]

The stress will still be there even if you do smoke.

Punching a pillow or screaming like a mad woman will be a better stress reliever than smoking. Stress relief from smoking is all an illusion made up by our addiction and our brainwashed mind.

Maybe go for a walk or a drive. You can even flip off random people if it makes you feel better. lol

You have come so far. Don't smoke. You know you don't truly want too.  If you did, you wouldn't be on a quit smoking board to begin with.   

[Doreensfree]

Don't fall for the same pattern...dont throw away a great quit....

Smoke a few ...then want to quit again....

You know they are going to taste bleh.....you ate going to hate it ...sooooo

Ride it through...it wil pass.....you'll be so proud you did....

Xxx

[Runfree]

Taking a drag will not take the edge off.  It will give you 3 seconds of believing your life is better...that's it, 3 seconds.  Then reality emerges and you will see your life is NOT better, the stress is not gone...it's not.  You instead have added to it.  

 

Ease your mind away from black or white, all or nothing thinking.  There are many more options to dealing with the stress you're feeling.  Get out some paper and make a list of ideas people use to overcome stress.  Maybe start with deep, slow breaths and then putting on your shoes and walk around the block.  Break the thinking pattern you are stuck in....a drag will NOT ease your stress.  Never has, never will.

 

We're both around a month clean.  I know what it means to me.  Don't lose it Evelyn...don't toss away your quit over some external bs.

[action]

You've been here before Evelyn, and those times in the past, you made the decision to smoke. Try to think back and remember what that was like - did it help you feel better? Are you glad that you smoked? Was life any easier after a pack of cigarettes? I am fairly confident that the answers to all these questions is a resounding NO!

 

Every day I come here and see you pledge NOPE and see those numbers on your ticker mount up, and I am so proud to see that you are nearly a month. Keep going Evelyn, you got it this time - ain't nothin' gonna stop you this time. Deep breaths, drink some juice, watch the good Doctor, and eventually this will pass and you will be stronger for it. The only real option here is to not smoke :)

[Mastergardener]

Evelyn,

You've got a month in, hang on! Deep, deep breaths and lots of water.

[El Bandito]

Hi Evelyn. More therapy?

 

You have done brilliantly so far, even getting compliments from your T.

 

You have proved that you have the strength to look the crave in the eye and tell it NOPE, NOPE and NOPE again.

 

I believe in your strength Evelyn, I believe in you.

[Evelyn]

made all of you's and myself proud - didn't go to the store for a puff. I didn't want to go back to that pattern Doreen! Talked, cried with my friend! Still very sad!

But I SAY NOPE! NOT ONE PUFF EVER (TODAY)

I'll cry and be sad, tomorrow T: I can say in 2 days that I've got a month!

I even was swearing to the Lord! And I will not f uck this quit up. NO!

Smoking doesn't do me any good, it only create a problem!

Thanks ALL of you for your replies!

 

NOPE

 

[Evelyn]

And Action - no it did nothing for me! I realise that too. But I was hanging on the ceiling upside down from stress and needed to let it out with a friend. I'm happy I posted this SOS. Makes me value my quit and my strenght even more!

 

[Fay]

Evelyn, I'm so proud of you!  I know you are a very strong lady and sometimes we just have to prove to ourselves how strong we are!  Good for you!

[Evelyn]

Thank you Fay the craving is still there but I say 'NOPE'!

[Evelyn]

JUNKIE THINKING

HOW TO COUNTER BAD THOUGHTS!

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "One Puff won't hurt"

 

RESPONSE: "One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I'm not a social smoker. One puff and I'll be smoking compulsively again."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I only want one."

 

RESPONSE: "I have never wanted only one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day every day. I want them all!"

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just be a social smoker."

 

RESPONSE: "I'm a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one I'll quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers can take it or leave it. That's not me."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm doing so well, one won't hurt me now."

 

RESPONSE: "The only reason I'm doing so well is because I haven't taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won't be doing well anymore. I'll be smoking again."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just stop again."

 

RESPONSE: "Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it took me to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I'm back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I'll ever be able to stop again?"

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "If I slip, I'll keep trying."

 

RESPONSE: "If I think I can get away with one little "slip" now I'll think I can get away with another little "slip" later on."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I need one to get me through this withdrawal."

 

RESPONSE: "Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. It will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I'll have to go through it all over again."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I miss smoking right now."

 

RESPONSE: "Of course I miss something I've been doing every day for most of my life. But do I miss the chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment, the shame? I'd rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to stop doing it."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I really need to smoke now, I'm so upset."

 

RESPONSE: "Smoking is not going to fix anything. I'll still be upset - I'll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it's a want. Once the crisis is over, I'll be relieved and grateful I'm still not smoking."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "I don't care."

 

RESPONSE: "What is it exactly that I think that I don't care about? Can I truthfully say I don't care about chest pain? I don't care about coughing and gagging in the morning? I don't care about lung cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That's why I stopped smoking in the first place."

________________________________________

 

JUNKIE THINKING: "What difference does it make, anyway?"

 

RESPONSE: "It makes a difference in the way I breathe, the way my heart beats, the way I feel about myself. It makes a tremendous difference in every aspect of my physical and emotional health."

[action]

And Action - no it did nothing for me! I realise that too. But I was hanging on the ceiling upside down from stress and needed to let it out with a friend. I'm happy I posted this SOS. Makes me value my quit and my strenght even more!

Yes, sometimes posting here can make you feel a little better and take away some of those craves - whatever you are doing, it is working! 28 days and counting!!!

[El Bandito]

Well done Evelyn.

 

Well done.

[joe]

I missed this Evelyn, but congrats on the clear thinking and making a choice that makes YOU proud!

 

You took it for what it was, stared it down and are now stronger because of it...

 

You now KNOW these feelings will creep up on you and you also KNOW you can beat it down!!

 

every victory makes you stronger!... WELL DONE!

[sharonsiff]

So proud of you!

 

Excellent... Reaching out is one of the best ways to approach chimp/junkie thinking/ insert own word. Once you you are then able to let the logic and facts flood your mind, good stuff Evelyn xx

[Doreensfree]

Well done sweetheart....

Your kicking nicotine,s butt....

Xxxx

[Oneistoo]

I'm so proud of you, Evelyn!!!! Way to go!!!! You didn't cave.

 

And that's such a great list, I'm glad you posted it here. My own mind tracks through that logic in the same way when I have serious cravings. 

 

But ultimately, if we have a problem, no matter what and including stress, if we smoke we now have two problems. 

 

You're still early in your quit. I can't speak for you, but I instinctively know about myself that the first several years quit are going to be tricky until I become much more solid as someone who doesn't smoke. There will be times when you crave, when you have to wait out the craving without smoking.  And each time you do, you grow a little more as a person. Instead of each time when you smoked, how you lost a little more respect for yourself. 

 

I love your line, "Bad mood I blow you away." It's great poetry. And that you have guinea pigs! I found an abandoned guinea pig at the beach and took care of it until it died. They are very good beings, they are very special and also very friendly. My GP's name was Annie, short for Little Animal, which I called her at first (I had two big Labradors at the same time, that's why she was "little animal"). 

 

Anyway, Quit Sis, you don't smoke. For some really absurd reason there are still cigarettes in this world, but we just ignore them....because cigarettes don't really belong in a good world.