Done and posted an ABC
Hi Pam,
Here’s a stab at one of those events. Hope I have the gist of it!
Thanks,
Harper
a) Today is going to be a hard day because I am bone tired. Slept horribly last
night. Was late getting up, and had no time for breakfast. And I have a meeting
at 10:00 this morning with senior officers of the company.
b) I am feeling so foggy; so lethargic; so ânot here.â My body feels heavy,
my back is really tired, and it would help if I could lie down. Iâm at work,
so I canât really do that. Usually a cigarette helps pick me up, makes me more
alert. I need to be alert for this meeting; need to be able to think on my toes.
c) I will smoke a cigarette to feel alert; and if my energy lags during the
meeting, I will smoke a cigarette at the break.
B1) My body will feel heavy, back tired, no matter whether I smoke a cigarette
or not. It is not the lack of nicotine that is making me feel this way, it is
the lack of sleep. I know it is not a rational response to respond to tired-ness
with a cigarette. Exercise helps pick me up; the right foods help pick me up,
too. As a last resort, caffeine picks me up, if only for a short while.
C1) I will take a brisk walk on the company treadmill about 10 minutes before
the meeting. Iâll have some juice from the machine. Usually we have bagels at
meetings like this; Iâll have half of one for the carbs. Iâll have some
peanut butter for the protein. If worst comes to worst, Iâll have some coffee
for the pick me up. But I will not smoke.
February 3rd, 2005 at 8:05 am
Hi Laura - thanks for sharing your ABC. All the information is
(Steve used to
there - old responses, inner dialogues, refuted beliefs,
better/more appropriate responses. Being me, I can’t resist doing a
bit of constructive tweaking - hope you don’t mind
tweak my ABC’s way back when - and it did help me get my thinking
into the ABC template.
ABC for physical pain…
the pain is
to something I’ve associated with relief for 25 years.
I used to get the B’s and C’s a bit blurred - which is where my
tweaking happened..
What you’ve put down as `C’ are really some of the B dialogues, and
your B is really your choice of response. Clear as mud? Here’s
what I’d suggest:-
b) This pain is really bad - something I’ve had to deal with for
the past 25 years. A cigarette has always given me a feeling of
relief and diverted my attention away from how bad the pain is
c) I’ll smoke
You then went on to challenge your old beliefs (B’s)and some of
your new C’s could really be included in the new B
b1) I know that by lighting up a cigarette I would only be breaking
a quit I’ve struggled hard to acheive. 38 days of smoke free life
would go down the drain in just one smokey moment and all I would
have done is add ammonia, nicotine, embalming fluid and a zillion
other poisons to my body.I am a non-smoker now and have 38 smoke
free days. I feel good about myself for following through with this
quit - I’ve never before lasted thismlong. I know a cigarette will
not take away the pain I’m having.
And your new C becomes.
C1) but I know I’d feel much better applying ice or heat and even
doing some gentle stretches. I’ll stretch, apply some ice and
continue being proud of myself and enjoy my new status of being a
non-smoker.
Hope that helped
Pam