Back to do the work
Hi. I was a member of this group back in 1999 and again in 2001. I
stopped smoking for 8 months the first time and 5 the second time.
Although I read the posts here and did a little of the approach, I
was not systematic about it. Both times, I did well with my quit
until I started directing my attention elsewhere. As soon as Warren
was put back in charge and a situation came up that called for a
smoking response (both times it was a sustained period of worry or
anxiety) I ended up smoking again. I quit on Tuesday March 23,2004.
Physical symptoms are not as strong as they have been in the past. I
had trouble sleeping for the first couple of days but seem to be
doing better with that now. I am having difficulty “getting started”
on productive activity like work. I have moderate restlessness and
mild munchies. I know that in order to get to a comfortable quit, I
need to do the cognitive work. My smoking associations with anxiety
and worry are very strong and I need to find more appropriate
responses to these emotions. I am posting my first two lists and
will be working on the third. I am looking forward to learning with
all of you on this site! Terry
List 1- Reasons to smoke.
After getting up in the morning, driving anywhere, before getting
started with any task (shower, work, phone call, laundry etc), after
completing any task, while waiting for everyone to get ready to leave
the house, before a meal, after a meal, prior to going to bed, angry,
agitated, procrastinating, sad, tired, hungry, happy, while thinking,
while planning my to do list for the day, to keep the bugs away while
outside, when lonely, cold, waiting for anything anywhere
List 2- Emotions and Conditions
Emotions: Anger, excited, anxiety or worry, sad, happy, lonely,
frightened, immobilized, ambivalent
Conditions: Tired, cold, hungry, restless, sleepy, trouble going to
sleep, nervous
April 27th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Oh Lauren,
I must share this with you! My sister quit smoking over 20 years ago and to
this day she occasionally has those dreams!! AND they still terrify
her…she would tell you that they keep her a non-smoker by making her guard her
quit
that much more.
I was quit for 5 1/2 years and never had them. We are all different. Try
not to worry too much. Dreams are only dreams. We have enough challenge
controlling our conscious minds!!
Barbara
April 27th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Hi,
First ’spring cleaning’… Warren’s associations, his criteria for
widget weighing, are the physical sensations we experience around events
like spring cleaning or hanging by the camp fire. The event may not have
been encountered since we quit so there’s a ‘first’ there, but the physical
sensations are mostly what we deal with on a daily basis. Always look to
the physical and be ready to take care of that. In time, Warren will be
automatically offering up nonsmoking responses to the physical regardless
of the external event.
Dreams, something I read a long time ago that made sense and I’ve hung
onto it… “Dreams are the way our subconscious categorizes and files away
conscious information.” That we may not recognize it or that it may appear
to be the opposite of what we consciously believe is just that way it is.
It’s the way we internalize change. In 8 yrs of talking to a lot of other
quitters, I’ve never heard of anyone who went back to smoking because of a
smoking dream.
However, as the subject line said, …. it’s only my 2 cents,
Steve
April 28th, 2006 at 5:23 am
Hi Brigitte,
Steve
Welcome to the group. The ’staying quit’ part of quitting is where
most people run into trouble. Have you done any of the homework exercises?
They may help you begin to see quitting from a doably different
perspective. Doing is very much different than just reading.
Just a gentle push