Cognitive Quit Smoking

A. Thanksgiving at In laws
B. I have my Foundation Statement and new beliefs. I am building on
it everyday. I will no longer accept bad emtions and feelings. I am
adjusting quite nicley to my new non-smoking life and no one is going
to try and adjust that. People will have to get used to the new me. I
wont need a cigarette to get through an event. My old beliefs are
exactly that “old”. Thanks to Cognitivequitting , I have my New
Beliefs, I have an ABC System that will work for me. Warren is taking
to his training although I have chosen some self-talk. It will be
others that must adjust to the Non-Smoking Deborah. Due to my new
belief system I will act in an appropriate way.
C. I will make the best choices. I am prepared to stand with my new
beliefs/truths even if I get uncomfortable, (others might get
uncomfortable as well) there will be a non-smoking response. I will
give my body what it needs emotionally and physically. Everyone who
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A Bring closure to leftover cigarettes.
B.There were cigarettes everywhere, I threw out everything I could
find. Two packs were in a drawer in the house. I asked hubby to go
throughout my car and look in every nook and crany, any leftover
NRT’s (couple years old), if you find anyting that I missed, throw it
out, and get those in the drawer that I forgot please. He went
through the cars, nothing was left, he forgot the packs in the
drawer. Several days after I had quit, I saw them in that drawer. I
couldnt touch them, I waited a few days. Finally I went in that
drawer broke the cigs in the open pack, had to open the other pack
and broke them the same way, where in no way they could be smoked.
C. I dont smoke, there is no reason for them to anywhere. Breaking
them makes me feel good even though I smelled that tobacco, I washed
my hands, its good to wet them. They used to be stong (powerful) when
they are wet, they cant hold up a match. I think my symbolism is
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Following on from the discussion going on in here last night ( I was
asleep as I’m several hours ahead of you folk in the
USA) ….A ‘funeral’ for cigarettes is one possibility, but it
reminds me of my previous attempts to quit when I’d defiantly throw
the packet in the trash and swear that I’d never ever ever smoke
again, and the ‘bonfires’ for cigarettes celebrated daily at another
quitsmoking venue. It had nothing to do with a reasoned, informed
choice not to smoke again, whereby smoking no longer seemed a
rational response to whatever I was experiencing emotianally and
physically.
A better option, I think, is to practice using our cognitive tools to
firstly make a commitment to our Foundation Statements, so that we’re
deciding in a calm rational moment that smoking is no longer an
appropriate option, and then to get to work on ABC’s which will give
us prepared thinking to deal with the events coming our way. As
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I deleted what I wrote earlier, there was a lot of anger, I came in
here to post and read your post (Word). I had to think real hard
about this one. Glad I didnt post the other one. A. Thanksgiving at
Mother In Laws, B and C In the past I would take Tylenol before
leaving home, its 10 miles down the road, I smoked 4-5 cigarettes on
the way. I get an immediate headache, heart is pounding, hold my
breath, anxious, total confusion. Chew a Valium in her driveway (dont
need no water). I have to drag myself in that door. I have tried my
best for 22 years. My mother in law treats me bad in front of
everyone, her son in law is the one that hasnt had a job in 20 years,
however she gets away with talking to me bad because I LET HER. I
become the maid, no one lifts a finger, none of us enjoy going (her
son, me, and our children). I would sneak out and take a walk and
smoke, I could about suck in the whole cigarette in one breath in the
past out of anger. Dont think I am kidding. I drag myself back in for
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Donna,
What a brilliant idea! I like it. I think one more item would be needed, a
steak through it.
As you can tell, I am in a weird mood today.
India

I am a manager of a production area and today I had to have a
very “unpleasant” meeting with a worker. In short, I had to verbally
reprimand this person for something they had done that was wrong.
My smoking behavior in the past would have been to:
1. smoke before I prepared the documentation, (to think better)
2. smoke after I prepared the written documentation (to think it
over)
3. smoke before I had the reprimand meeting with the employee (to
calm my nerves)
4. smoke after I had the reprimand meeting (calm my nerves.)
Here’s what would have happened in pre-quit ABC terms:
A. I have to do something unpleasant, but important and unavoidable.
My stomach is in a knot, I have butterflies, and my heart is pounding.
I don’t want to turn this meeting into an emotional confrontation and
I need to remain calm, no matter what happens.
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A the event - 8 hour drive
get cooped up feeling
B the option - short of temper, get grouchy, can’t keep mouth shut
when it is saying not nice things
C the action - take breaks on drive stop every hours or so, stretch,
walk, get some decaf or water etc. if I do this won’t feel cooped
up, won’t get grouchy,
if i get mouthy, shut thy mouth
what do you think? donna

A note I hope you get. The day will come when you are ready. When
that day arrives, CogQuit, Steve and Pam will be here for you.
Truly, Debo

Hello Friends,
Today=two weeks SmokeFree, 500 cigarettes not purchased. I felt I
deserved a gift, so I set aside One Hour for myself. I rode my bike
for 20 minutes, stretched, and a relaxing bath. I decided to give
myself the gift of time. No one is going to do it for me. Starting
today I have an appointment with myself each and every day. If I need
to adjust the time, no problem. Cancellation only in an emergency. No
exceptions, and “do not disturb”. Thirty years of smoking, had not
only changed me, it was hurting my body, and mind. Smoking was the
start of health problems, mental changes, and me abusing my body.
Smoking changed everything; I helped it! Cigarette Manufacturer’s are
partly to blame, I am the other part. I have enjoyed your ABC’s.The
Screaming Grandchildren, will save. Not a Grandmother yet. Can it be
used for everyday kids? ABC’s on Exercise, right on target. I will
manage my health like people manage a checkbook. Balance. It is not
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What a nasty day. I had chance after chance to practice non-smoking
responses to stressful situations, then between stressors I needed to
figure out if it was a physical or emotional cause to the desire to
smoke, and remind myself of my foundation statement at least 3 or 4
different times. Recite Pat’s “Junkie Thinking” at least 8 or 9
times, especially the part about “I never wanted just one. I wanted
20 or 30 a day.” By the end of the day I am very tired, but still
very non-smoking. It wasn’t that felt like I had a crack in my non-
smoking resolve that could become a cave-in, but that it was a great
deal of work to be in the middle of stress at work, plus having to re-
examine my former routine responses to such events, and come up with
alternative ways of looking at it and responding to it. It was like
working 2 jobs at once.
I wrote once before about all these “firsts” and this was the first
time I have dealt with a very high stress day at work without
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