Cognitive Quit Smoking

This Iraq war is just so awful. i’m upset enough i needed to write
this abc, so i can take the energy of these strong feelings i am
having right now and put them to some good use, rather than sit
frozen and feeling so useless/powerless to do anything. so here goes
A: The war on Iraq oil wells burning
B: I am so tense, my stomach is in knots and I’m in tears. This is
such a nightmarre! the oil wells are burning, bombs falling, and
people dying. So many i know who’s relatives are in the war right now.
The troops have just moved across the border into Iraq. I feel so
upset and helpless. I will not smoke because of this. I want to
comfort my friends, I want mother earth not to hurt so. I want to
get past this feeling of helplessness.
C: I’m going to do some deep breathing here, and I can cry, its ok.
I’m not going to smoke, it won’t help anything here. I am going to
write to my friends whose family members are in the war in this
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I got back monday to find the lock broke on the house got scared
realized it was relatives doing the floor couldn’t find their
housekeys wow.
during the journey had a very stressful car ride in snowstorm which
came up suddenly. it was slippery and lots of trucks passing very
close. so here is abc i had to do in my head on the fly.
A i’m scared in traffic
B i hate this my heart is pounding i could use a smoke nope no way
not me, i’m so tense oh man am i scared and stomach in knots. but i’m
not smoking, i can deep breathe here and get calmer and maybe do some
swearing oh i don’t like this!!!!
C i’m going to deep breathe right now and close my eyes to calm
myself down
this worked real well and needed to do the deep breathing a few
times until we got out of the snow.
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Hi Kris - glad that helped As both Steve and I said in our tweaks, pay
attention to what that ‘frustrated’ feels like, and those options (C’s) will
become clearer to you.
Keep in touch,
Pam
I’d said…..

HI all
today was truly a test for me.i was in public & there were 6 people
smoking & smoke was bloowing in my face from someone standing next to
me.I thought i could go ask someone for a cig i’m craving big time.Nah
its bad for my asmatha/emphsema i cant afford anymore & its only a
craving that will pass plus if i smoke i’ll be disappointed in myself.
Then i said ok i gotta move away from the smoke blowing in my face &
where everyones not smoking.So i did soon i was thinking of other
things & then realized i had done my ABC’s w/o giving it much thought
so i think warren and i are doing very well with our training. Anne

Hi Glen,
I think you’ve got some great data to work with.

Actually Glen, I’d say you’ve got a very good sense of several key
sensations. As long back as I can remember, my stomach was the ‘barometer’
of my emotions. I think that may be the first thing lots of us notice.
To some extent, I think most of us start out ‘less in touch’. Use the
gut/heart/brain cues as your starting point.
Glen, I think your memorable day begins a journey that won’t end. You’re
going to enjoy this.
Steve

A year ago Bobbie started doing ABCs and talking to Warren. Today she’s
been quit for a year. Very well done Bobbie :))
Thank you for being part of this little group,
Steve

Hi all. I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Kathy (I
always feel like saying “and I’m a smokeaholic”).
I have been free for exactly 6 days now. This is the 4th time, but
also the last time. I have always cheated by now, all the other
times.
In fact the last time I quit, about 7 months ago, I started again
within the first week, but never told anyone, not my husband or my
coworkers. They all said how proud they were of me, not knowing that
every chance I had, I would go sneak one.
Anyway, now that I’ve come out of the closet, I am needing all the
support I can get.
Thanks for making this available to people like me.
Kathy

Steve,
VERY Heartfelt Congratulations on your 7 years!!! How awesome that is!
You’ve lighted the way for so many of us, thank you so much for that. I
hope the sun and winds are just right tomorrow.
It’s been almost 5 years since we first met in AS3. You taught me how to
look at my quit in a different way. Taking a cognitive approach to
quitting this time has given me the kind of quit comfort unbeknownst to me
before. I will always be grateful for what you shared with me. Thank you.
Celebrating an old friend on this day!
Congrats again,
PatB
Four years, nine months, two weeks, three days, 7 hours, 7 minutes and 42
seconds. 52628 cigarettes not smoked, saving $10,657.60. Life saved: 26
weeks, 17 hours, 40 minutes.

Hi, everybody!
My name is Chris Benz. I live in Burke, Virginia USA. I’ve smoked a
pack of cigarettes a day since I was 17, and I’m now less than a
month from my 62nd birthday…45 years of smoking. I’ve tried just
about every conceivable method of quitting…patch, nicotine gum,
inhaler, hypnosis, cold turkey…and never lasted more than 24 hours.
I’ve got lots of reasons to quit. Among them: two young boys at
home I’d like to play with more and see graduate from college,
smoking-related health problems (constant wheezing, shortness of
breath, severe bouts with bronchitis, diagnosed with the first
stages of emphysema), the ever-increasing monetary cost of the
addiction. I’ve got the feeling that my whole life is slipping away
from me while I stand around and smoke. I’ve gone through periods
of depression about it, when I just gave up and accepted that I
would smoke until it killed me.
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hello everyone, my name is Kate and I’ve just joined the list.
Without wishing to exaserbate anyone’s sense of deprivation I’m at the stage of
planning my quit, I haven’t actually stopped yet, so I hope its ok for me to
post!
I’m 26 and have smoked for a little over 10 years now, I guess I average about
20 cigarettes a day for that time and I made the mistake of swearing when I was
15 that I’d give up by the time I turned 25, well I made 2 concerted efforts to
give up based upon that promise, one last 2 days, the other 2 weeks and then I
realised the serious reality of being an addict and realised it was going to
require a change of tactics. So here I am, I know my facts and figures - I’m
still young and relatively healthy so now is a great time to kick it to the
curb, I’ve been reading a few books on tips on how to give up smoking, a few of
which make a lot of sense to me, so now I’m looking for a support group removed
from my day to day life (I do subscribe to the theory based on past experience
that having friends and family around you knowing just adds to the feeling of
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