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kevin Site Admin
Quit Date: -
Posts: 9538 Location: cincinnati, oh
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Posted: December 31, 2007 9:55 PM Post subject: my advice to you, the new quitter: |
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live your life in "day-tight" compartments.
in other words, treat every day as its own separate thing:
don't waste time and energy regretting what you did (or didn't do) yesterday (or the day before that, or the day before that...); the past is over, it's carved in stone, you can't take it back, and you can't change it.
get over it.
and don't waste time and energy worrying about what might happen tomorrow (or the day after tomorrow, or the day after that...); you can't do anything about tomorrow until it becomes today.
a lot of stress comes from trying to live in some other time than right now; it can't be done, and yet, we try: we think, "if only i'd quit sooner..." or we think, "maybe i should wait until tomorrow to quit..." but the thing is, the only time we can quit is today.
in fact, the only time we can quit is right now. while we're having that monster crave...
here's a little thought experiment for you:
imagine you're a smoker and you've just boarded a plane for a transcontinental flight. you're stuck on the plane for 8 hours, and there's no smoking.
you settle into your seat, half an hour goes by...
and you get a crave.
but you can't feed it!
what do you do?
you pick up a magazine, take out the book you brought along, turn on the in-flight movie - something to get your mind off the crave.
eventually, the crave goes away. even though you didn't feed it.
where did it go?
who cares? the point is, it went away, all by itself, even though you didn't feed it. and every crave you have while you're on that plane will do the same thing.
here's another little thought experiment for you:
imagine you're a smoker and you've just checked in to the hospital for some elective surgery. you're going to be stuck here for a few days, and there's no smoking.
you settle into your bed, a half hour goes by...
and wham! you get a crave.
but you can't feed it!
what do you do?
you pick up a magazine, you take out the book you brought along, you turn on the tv - anything to get your mind off the crave...
eventually, the crave goes away. even though you didn't feed it.
where did it go?
who cares? once again, the point is, it went away, all by itself, even though you didn't feed it. and every single crave you have while you're in the hospital will do exactly the same thing.
now for the $64,000 question: do the craves get stronger or weaker the longer you're in the hospital?
if you've ever been in this situation as a smoker, you know the answer: they get weaker.
because you can't feed them.
so why do you think the craves are going to act any differently now that you've chosen not to feed them than they did when the airline or the hospital told you you weren't allowed to feed them?
they're not.
they're going to go away, all by themselves, without you feeding them, and the longer you go without feeding them, the weaker they'll get, until you barely notice them any more.
how do i know?
because i started choosing not to feed them any more on november 19th of 2001, and i can't honestly remember the last time i had a crave; it's been years. and before you say, "well, that's easy for you to say; you've been quit for over 6 years!", remember this:
i started out on day one, just like everybody who quits. i decided that i was not going to smoke, just for that day, that hour, that minute... that i was not going to smoke right now. then, on day two, i made the same choices again. on day three, same thing.
if you look back over my journey so far, you'll see that i've been quit for a little over six years. but if you look a little closer, you'll see that what actually happened was that i chose life - i chose not to smoke - just for today, 2,233 times.
break it down to its most basic, and what i did was simple: i chose not to smoke, just for today. and you can do the same.
choose life, just for today, and tomorrow will take care of itself.
promise. _________________
keep choosing life!
kevin
the zen of the quit |
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Rusty
Quit Date: December 13, 2004
Posts: 497 Location: North Florida
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Posted: December 31, 2007 10:12 PM Post subject: |
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Beautiful, Kevin!
Rusty _________________
The Buddha says: Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. |
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Seabrez
Quit Date: -
Posts: 4458 Location: Gulf Coast
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Posted: December 31, 2007 10:18 PM Post subject: |
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Thank you, Kevin!!!
It is so simple...and yet, we, as humans love to complicate things. Yes, no looking back and regretting the "what ifs" and "could of, should of's"...but focus on today! Amen, amen to that!
It truly, truly is just making the decision in the moment and living through it. And I'm, for one, am glad to finally have realized that with this quit. It's so freeing.
You know just how to simplify things and cut to the chase, as they say!
New quitters....there's no better advise that this!! Kudos, Kevin!
Hugs _________________
Living in Freedom
Deb
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corn 5:17 NASB |
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kevin Site Admin
Quit Date: -
Posts: 9538 Location: cincinnati, oh
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Posted: December 31, 2007 11:44 PM Post subject: |
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thanks, rusty and deb! _________________
keep choosing life!
kevin
the zen of the quit |
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Mary Dude
Quit Date: June 15, 2004
Posts: 4803 Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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Posted: January 1, 2008 2:32 AM Post subject: |
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agree, choose freedom right now and when you need to - choose it again - ten minutes from right now - or ten hours from right now - or ten days from right now - whenever you find yourself entertaining the thought of returning to the chains of addiction - remember that you broke free - and to stay free all you have to do is choose freedom again - just for right now.
I keep choosing to be free... _________________
Mary D.
Smoke-free one day at a time!
Worry doesn't help tomorrow's troubles, but it does ruin today's happiness! |
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Pamela
Quit Date: -
Posts: 3542 Location: Gardiner, NY
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Posted: January 1, 2008 12:14 PM Post subject: |
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Well said, and so simple!
Today, I'm chosing to not smoke, and to not drink.
I know i can do it....how about you? _________________
FIVE + years of freedom and loving it! |
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kannprint
Quit Date: April 10, 2004
Posts: 4988 Location: St. Louis, MO
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Posted: January 1, 2008 2:12 PM Post subject: |
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Great post, Kevin. As we've all learned; one week/one day/one hour/one minute at a time. It works. _________________
LIVE WELL, LAUGH OFTEN, LOVE MUCH.
Jo |
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essie662
Quit Date: April 14, 2004
Posts: 3388 Location: MI
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Posted: January 1, 2008 2:22 PM Post subject: |
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_________________
Essie
4/14/04 |
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Cowgirl UP!
Quit Date: July 26, 2004
Posts: 5029 Location: Ala
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Posted: January 1, 2008 3:49 PM Post subject: |
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I sure hope they listen to you...it took me forever to relax enough to trust the wisdom I was getting from this site...please people don't fight it just go with it...it works.
Kay _________________
All with a little help from my friends, COWGIRL UP |
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pinkpearl
Quit Date: June 30, 2007
Posts: 1667 Location: Illinois
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Posted: January 1, 2008 7:02 PM Post subject: |
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thanks kevin, I enjoyed reading that. |
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daggy12
Quit Date: -
Posts: 678 Location: Palm Bay, FL
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Posted: January 13, 2008 9:32 AM Post subject: |
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Wow Kevin that was great.
Its like everyday I wake up and start new. Refreshed Hope, faith and trust. Thanks for the post! _________________
Life can only be "understood" by looking backward, but must be "lived" by looking forward.
Patty |
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Barbara K.
Quit Date: December 23, 2004
Posts: 5977
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Posted: February 1, 2008 4:10 AM Post subject: |
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Great post Kevin! You have had some mighty tall challenges in your quit but like you said, you choose not to smoke. _________________
Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn arouind and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
Blessings,
Barbara K. |
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Nosmoex
Quit Date: July 4, 2007
Posts: 198
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Posted: February 12, 2008 7:51 PM Post subject: |
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Dang! How did I not see this? That post is the TRUTH!!!! |
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