Cognitive Quit Smoking

Hello all,
This is what I wrote to post to the newsgroup AS3. It was in this
newsgroup that I found Steve and spent the first couple of years helping
and being helped. I wanted to share the words with all of you. Using
CogQuit to get free will get you to where I am, I assure you. Keep
learning and writing. It pays off big time.
Pat
**************
I am Yukpa hashi. I am adopted Chahta, Cherokee, English, Irish and
Scots. And I am 4 years smoke free today. It’s been awhile since I’ve
posted in here (although I frequently lurk) but I wanted to share this
milestone with all of you, my extended quit family.
There was a time that I did not think I would ever be smoke free. I had
tried everything. I am just sure you guys know exactly what I am
talking about. Cold turkey, patches, gum, hypnosis, tapes under my

pillow, willpower, etc. You get my drift, eh? All failures. All
giving me anything but hope of reclaiming what I was losing… me.
I can’t put my finger on why I wanted to try again. I couldn’t breathe
freely. But that wasn’t it. My chest hurt. So? I had many exhertion
related symptoms but they didn’t/couldn’t push me to quit.
So what did it for me? I had a visit from the two guys who grace my
life as my grandsons. They came to visit. We had sat on the couch to
read and as in the past, they got as far away as they could from my face
and still see the book. This time, though, it really wounded me. They
would never have hurt my feelings by saying something to me. But who
could blame them for turning their heads away? Their very sensitive
noses couldn’t stand the smell. (And now I know what they were
smelling. Oh my…)
Well, that was it. I knew I wanted to try one more time. It was very
shortly thereafter that I found AS3, ddsteve and Cog Quit.
Over the years now, I have come to depend on my ability to breathe and
move without all of the health problems. But to be honest with you, it
is not now as it wasn’t back then a health issue for me… although that
is a wonderful benefit of having quit smoking. What I love about being
quit is the total freedom and the knowledge that I am once again the
owner of my body. I can go anywhere and everywhere and I can do
anything I choose to do. (Which includes an early and long dinner with
our very own ddJacque. If you guys wonder if she is as nice in person
as she is here in the newsgroup… I would tell you she is even nicer
than that.)
If you are just beginning this journey, I honor you. This is probably
the hardest thing you will do in your lifetime. But know this… When
you get to where I am, if you are like me, you will look on your first
year as a no thing. Truly. I understand the struggles to get free. I
suffered the emotional roller coaster ride much like you. I went
through so many changes, it took a long time for my head to stop
spinning! But the point is that it did stop spinning. And after I put
some quit time on my meter and could look back, I felt really proud of
me for finding a way to get quit and stay quit. I honor you. Find a
way to get quit and stay quit. It’s not as hard as you might believe.
I have written a lot about Cog Quitting over the years. It is the
reason why I enjoy my quit comfort today. I have seen the URL for the
website posted here in AS3 (Thank you BobC. And hello!!!) but just in
case… www.cognitivequitting.com. Take a look if you’ve a mind to. It
made a true difference for me.
My 5/25′ers and I are still jabbering away. We are still 6 out of 7
quit. And we are in awe of our accomplishment. We no longer run a
group meter but you can pretty well imagine what the meter looks like if
you times mine by 6. Unbelievable. Quit buddies are a great gift.
Buddy up and set up a support network. You’ll not regret it.
And this is what my meter looks like today:
Four years, 8 minutes and 37 seconds. 43832 cigarettes not smoked,
saving $8,328.13. Life saved: 21 weeks, 5 days, 4 hours, 40 minutes.
What impresses me most about that meter is almost 44,000 cigs not
smoked. WOW!!!! Can you imagine how pink my lungs must be? Smile.
I can never repay AS3 for all that it has given to me in all of this
time. It gave me support and understanding, information and how best to
get from there to here. Thank you… so much. It’s why coming back to
share this milestone with all of you was so important to me.
It is truly worth is all to be smoke free. Absolutely. Now, I’m off to
go pick up a couple of guys and see if they want to go put up a kite.
The winds are up! I so look forward to that hug and smooch that they so
freely give nowadays. A sweet smelling grandma indeed!!!
Thank you for spending this moment with me.
Keep on keeping on,
Yukpa hashi still passing the talking stick ———
aka Pat
www.talkingstick.net

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 20th, 2004 at 3:55 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.