Comments on: Whatever

By: Lester Sierra

Lester Sierra — Tue, 25 May 2004 14:36:06 +0000

Thanks, Peg…………..
Did not mean to sound so maudlin, I think (but it was late at night) Have to admit that the though of being a “good example” to
anyone……….
fills me with just about as much glee as the thought of actually
conquering these leftover cravings……… !!!!!! :))
Jean

By: Lester Sierra

Lester Sierra — Tue, 25 May 2004 00:06:17 +0000

Thanks for posting, Pat…………
Nice to see the view from “there” …………….. Maybe one day I will “KNOW” I am quit!!!!!
Jean

By: Lester Sierra

Lester Sierra — Mon, 24 May 2004 16:51:23 +0000

Thanks, Katie…………still working at it……. Jean

By: Lester Sierra

Lester Sierra — Sun, 23 May 2004 11:51:44 +0000

“michael.havlicek” wrote:
Thanks much for your support, Michael……………
You are right about the books……….. I do NEED them!!!!!!
Think perhaps you were not around when I shared my history…….
Moved from small town Ontario to the city of Calgary in late fall
(early winter here) I was just overwhelmed by the weather……….
And spent most of the winter just hibernating like our bears while I
waited for it to get warm again…..
This has just started to happen within the last week or
so…………and I have yet to find my way to the library. (in
Ontario I went weekly and brought home as many as I could carry) LOL
I also have tried the herbal teas…………….chamomile seems to be
recommended here
(but this has not seemed helpful)……….and valerian root (also

recommendedl) actually made me ill)
Admit I also tried a glass of wine …………..(which worked
beautifully until I realized one glass had turned into
two…….)………so I scrapped that avenue……… Since I am not working - and have no committments - I decided just to
let the scenario play itself out……..so I sometimes find myself
“retiring” (for the 5th or 6th time) just about the time others are
getting up…..
And so there is good reason to suspect that some of my difficulties are
due to a lack of sleep………….
Perhaps also I expect too much too soon…………..
It really seems as if one has gotten 4 months in - there should be SOME
feeling that a hurdle has been passed and it can only get
easier………….
But obviously this is not always true - since so many seem to get this
far and then lose their quits………..
It is 7 months now since I heard my doctor suggest that my latest x-ray
indicated it was time to quit smoking if I wanted to avoid major
problems…………..
I hear her voice every time I am tempted to listen to
“Warren”………………..
and I am depending on pure fear to keep me from smoking……….
But I am 68 - a widow - and one son’s death has preceded mine……….
and I have to admit there are days when the thought passes through
that perhaps I do not need to live to the century mark???????
So why NOT smoke????????
In the end the goal that sustains me is to serve as an example to a few
people who long ago gave up on any belief that they COULD quit……….
At the time I quit my consumption of cigarettes was up to over two
packages of 25 cigs each per day. I smoked almost non-stop whenever I
was in my own home or in any other situation where smoking was
permitted…………
So anyone who knew me prior to 31 Dec 01 HAS to be able to think
“if she can do it - so can I”
And I know a few people who have started a quit thinking the
above………….
So I shall hold to this quit regardless of temptations (as long as I am
in control) But I look forward to a time when I know the battle is won and I can
turn any leftover energy toward helping myself or others to tackle a
different one……..
Jean

By: Lester Sierra

Lester Sierra — Sun, 23 May 2004 04:36:50 +0000

Thanks for your input, Cat………………
And you are right - I have been reactive…….
I think perhaps I have been looking too closely for “clues” as to what
was prompting a message from Warren……….(what I was feeling rather
than what I was doing)
Perhaps some of this is due to an awareness that I have spent my life
reacting to feelings far more than to facts……… :))
The way you have framed the beginnings of an ABC - makes far more
sense…..
I think perhaps I should share with the group my final response to
concerns about seeing that ship set sail for the Arabian Sea…………
Mothers feel really helpless, you know!!!!!!!! (once sons are grown
and married)
Someone else gets to hear their fears (if any) and to comfort
them………

I just felt I HAD to do something……..and lo and behold in the paper
I was reading this morning was mention of a petition that had been
started by a lady here in Canada,
who concerned about possible escalation of the response to September
11th - and the number of civilian casualties in Afganistan - was asking
the Canadian government to
withdraw support of the US actions in the middle east and to bring our
troops home.
I signed it like a shot!!!!!!!!!!! And feel MUCH better!!!!
I have done something!!!!!!
(I hope any American cogquit buddy will understand!)
Jean

By: Lester Sierra

Lester Sierra — Sat, 22 May 2004 21:21:55 +0000

Thanks, Pam…..am holding……and trying to identify
source…………
Perhaps I just need to get to bed earlier…….. LOL
Jean

By: Lester Sierra

Lester Sierra — Sat, 22 May 2004 14:07:01 +0000

Thanks for response, Katie…………..
It just seems so strange that after 4 months of not smoking I am once
again getting these pretty strong messages from Warren………….
(I thought I had him boxed in and under control) And they seem to come out of the blue - mostly when I am sitting here at
the computer (radio or TV on at the same time) And I have not
identified anything in my conscious thought that would trigger the need
for a response…………
Coping as much as possible by trying to consciously interpret message as
a signal for the need for deep breathing or a bit of exercise………. (or food when absolutely necessary)
Jean

By: Raleigh Missy

Raleigh Missy — Sat, 22 May 2004 06:39:58 +0000

Hi there Jean,
I read your post this morning just before I headed off to work. It
appeared to me that what you needed was an ABC or two that would help you
define the alternative options you needed. I thought of a few things
through the day intending to get home and send them off to you. And here I
find that Katie and Katie and Pam and Cat and Michael have covered just
about everything I’d have offered. (Thank you Katie and Katie and Pam and
Cat and Michael. To everyone who posts, thank you thank you. You are why
this group is so effective.)

Jean you are tuning into the process. You’re aware and realizing that
there has been a change and you’re trying to look analytically at that
change with a view to finding a better way to handle it.
How are you sleeping? Are you getting ‘enough’ sleep? Fatigue, I think,
is the worst of all the stressors we can encounter. It aggravates every

other ‘negative’ feeling we’re experiencing.
When others fail to notice or remember how wonderful we are that we’ve
quit and stop saying things that support us, isn’t that a pretty lonely
feeling?
A son heading into danger is sure to be a source of worry and concern,
and, in our smoking past, both would have been classic ‘reasons to light
up’. As for Warren telling you anything in a “weak moment”, don’t fear him.
He will offer up his ’suggestions’ based on past experience just as he’s
been doing all along, even if you haven’t been hearing him. And when he
offers up his suggestions, you will look them over, agree with what’s
acceptable, and veto what isn’t. Then you can use whatever works from the
ABCs that have been presented here and come up with something that actually
helps you respond in a way that’s in keeping with your foundation beliefs.
There, you see? You’re aware of Warren and you’re critical of what he
offers. Remember, he’s just offering up what has worked in the past. It’s
up to you to create new options, preferably something other than
“meaningless alternatives”. You’re certainly on the right track, just need
some additional options that are more on target.
Jean, congratulations on your 4 months quit very well done.
Katie, you too very well done. (Congratulations and apologies to any
4 month quitters I’ve failed to mention.)
To all you New Years quitters whom I haven’t met and are out there
lurking, I hope you’re finding a cognitive path through your quit and that
you are discovering the comfort of being aware and in charge.
Steve

By: Neva Marjory

Neva Marjory — Fri, 21 May 2004 23:17:38 +0000

— In CognitiveQuitSmoking@y…, “katie2905uk” Heck, no. This is great, we should have an ABC party!!! Thanks,
Katie!

By: Norbert Fox

Norbert Fox — Fri, 21 May 2004 15:19:44 +0000

Dear all,
In regards to the most recent emails with ABC’s that tackle late night
fancies, social smoking and procrastination thoughts of cigs, I’d like
to add my thoughts.
The ABC’s that have been offered as examples are GREAT. I can see this
group lifting up those of you who are more newly quit and helping to
give you other options other than picking up a cig. (Is that a terrific
gift or what?!!) I would tell you newer quitters to remember that this
is a process. I would have wished for myself a magic wand but alas, I
had to continue to walk the walk until my quit was solid. It will
probably be that way for you too. I encourage you to continue to learn
new options.
And I would also tell you, that although you might be feeling sometimes
vulnerable and/or sometimes frustrated (that you aren’t farther along
towards quit comfort than you thought you were), there must be a degree

of patience that must be exercised while you give yourself the
opportunity to learn this method of quitting. I found my patience
(which is still almost non-existent… I want what I want and I want it
now… smile… good ol’ 60’s attitude, eh?) when I realized that I was
in the middle of giving myself a true chance at never having to go
through this quitting business ever again. Since I had tried everything
that I knew to try in my innumerable quits before this one and had
failed every time, I had a ‘feeling’ about this method. In a short
period of time, I had experienced more hope than ever before. And I was
beginning to believe that giving myself a way of thinking myself through
this quit versus just hanging on for dear life was the true key to a
permanent quit. As it has turned out, both feelings were dead on.
Allow yourself the time to learn your ABC’s. Allow yourself the time
for your body to heal from the years of nicotine abuse. Allow yourself
the ability to experience a freedom that is so sweet, so BIG, that once
you have gained your quit comfort, you will feel like you have given
yourself the greatest gift imaginable. And you have. Allow your
patience to be experienced in order to give you the time for all of this
to come forth.
In the end, when you have reached that place where you no longer get
those late night fancies, where you have no fear of being in a social
situation with smokers (who haven’t found their courage to quit yet) and
where you have learned to give yourself other options where once you
would have procrastinated with a smoke… In the end, the payoff is true
freedom. It’s an amazing experience. You can get here… you can.
Pat