**Smoking is not an option**

[babs609]

When I first quit.....

 

My number one Mantra...........Smoking is not an option

 

Followed quickly by my 2nd Mantra...............No Matter What

 

Don't get me wrong.....there were times I felt like a trapped animal with nowhere to escape, had the urge to pull my hair out of my head, cut and skin myself like a snake (no, i'm not a cutter), run down the street naked screaming at the top of my lungs...okay..that's a little extreme but I was damn near close.  But still...no matter what...I made the commitment to myself that I was never ever ever going to smoke again.  I couldn't think beyond that day of course...so I had to do this...One Day at a Time.

 

There have been debates about this subject.  The ones who argued against this and said they are adults and don't like to be told what to do so the idea of taking the option away makes them feel trapped and then they want to smoke even more.  I say that's bullshit!  Ironically...the ones who fight against the idea of Smoking is not an option....Well...historically speaking...they are the ones who disappear and come back to say they relapsed.  Again.

 

When you have a baby..the second he or she is born...you take one look at that baby and you COMMIT....for life.  No matter what...you are going to protect this child and nurture it.  Do you turn around 6 months later and decide...I don't like being told what to do...I feel trapped...I don't want to do this anymore...??  Most normal person with values and morals won't....it's not even an option....a thought....it's just Out of the Question.  It's absurd, right??  Well....no different here.  

 

I even imagined the worst thing that can happen in my world....(i'm a mom and grand-mom so you can imagine what that would be)  just the mere thought of that makes me get teary eyed and want to vomit...but still I know...smoking won't change it or make me feel better...No Matter What....smoking is NOT an OPTION.

 

 

Whenever I had that crave...I just said..."Girl...do whatever you need to do...but smoking is just not an option so..think of something else sister"  I pictured myself on a desert island with no smokes in sight and I surrender to the fact that ...I just am not going to smoke because that's Not an Option.  Immediately I felt better...I relaxed...I surrendered....and moved on with my life...until the next crave..and I did it again.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Amazingly enough...I didn't die.

 

I think if you allow the idea of smoking as an option to creep into your head even for a second....you are doomed to either struggle harder than you have to....and relapse eventually because it just becomes "too hard"  OR...you do keep your quit...but you took the harder way to get there...and not only that....the urge to smoke get's stronger..not weaker.

 

Don't listen to that bratty voice in your head that says...I don't like being told what to do.  Because YOU are the one who made the decision to quit.  That's why you are here...that's why you keep coming back.  You want to quit.  The question is...how bad do you want it?  What are you willing to do to get it??  

 

SMOKING IS NOT AN OPTION

 

NO....MATTER...WHAT

 

Make that commitment today!!

[JackiMac]

Second that babs, if you can't commit to NOPE or NTAP I don't think you are 100% committed to quitting, your just going through the motions.......

[Doreensfree]

Brilliant post babs....there is only one way to quit.....

NEVER take another puff....no matter what....

What got me through the bad times....smoking is not on the table....EVER....x

[Still winning]

Brilliant post babs....there is only one way to quit.....

NEVER take another puff....no matter what....

What got me through the bad times....smoking is not on the table....EVER....x

In turn you telling me that got me through...

 

If smoking is not on the table then what can you do instead...and small battles were won, which turn into big victories!

[cpk]

Thanks. This is like the No Contact rule with a bad relationship. Ha! :sarcastic_hand:   Good one to remember! Guard the Quit.  Always.

[Paul723]

Bump

[Kate18]

On 3/21/2015 at 7:40 AM, babs609 said:

 I pictured myself on a desert island with no smokes in sight and I surrender to the fact that ...I just am not going to smoke because that's Not an Option.  Immediately I felt better...I relaxed...I surrendered....and moved on with my life...until the next crave..and I did it again.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Amazingly enough...I didn't die.

 

I think if you allow the idea of smoking as an option to creep into your head even for a second....you are doomed to either struggle harder than you have to....and relapse eventually because it just becomes "too hard"  OR...you do keep your quit...but you took the harder way to get there...and not only that....the urge to smoke get's stronger..not weaker.

 

 

This use of imagery is brilliant.  I've been struggling with the fact that the only way to my home (it's on a cul-de-sac) is past a corner variety store where I most often bought my cigarettes. My imagery has been of the store and a promise of relief of tension, but I didn't consciously recognize the picture in my mind. In fact, I've not really used imagery at all to help me with this quit.

 

I realize that I've been using phrases to help me with avoidance of smoking and plowing through cravings, but words/audio are not my primary method of learning: imagery/pictures are. I am very visually-oriented and dream in color.

 

It's powerful to mindfully focus on colorful images where there are no cigarettes around. I can imagine that store in gray tones and as not having cigarettes, or a big Mr Yuck sticker on the doors, or imagine a vacant lot where the store stands. 

 

I really appreciate this post. It reminds me where my power to change comes from--imagining the result I want in mental pictures, not words.

Just creating some imagery to use when cravings hit will occupy my mind when I need distraction.

 

Thanks to Babs who wrote it and Paul 723 for bumping it.