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Full Term List
Full Term List
From javajules on 2/27/2008 6:26:56 PM
When pregnant, I always had a list ready of what to bring to the hospital. I'm now full-term (9 months) quit, and this is the list I've brought with me to my Quit.
* Say and Do only those things that’ll advance your quit. I watch what I say every single day b/c my words make my thoughts more real and my thoughts feed off my words. I noticed that when I occasionally said, “Man, I really want a smoke,” the thought became more powerful; thus, I was not advancing my quit but retarding it.
* Arrest your thoughts. Think about where your line of thinking is taking you. When I found myself thinking romantically about a smoke, I asked myself, “What will be the end result if I continue thinking these thoughts?” The answer is that I’d be making my quit much more difficult than it need be.
* Be in your own corner. I’m learning to stop defeating myself through my own thoughts, words, and actions. A small percentage of people manage to quit for good—and I’m going to be in that small percent. Somebody has to be there; why shouldn’t it be me?
* Mean what you say. When I felt doubtful of my decision I asked myself, “Did I say I was quitting smoking or not?" Then mean it! Quit, and live like you’ve quit! Don’t get wishy-washy with yourself. It’s a dangerous game, and--HANDS DOWN--it’s the number one quit killer.
* Grow up. I’ve learned to be my own mother. My kids can’t have soda every day. I can’t smoke. That’s life. Suck it up.
* Reach out in your distress. I discovered that I have way more friends here than I ever gave the Q credit for. Just recently, I’d been afraid to unburden a big depressive episode—afraid I’d disillusion people, scare them off, make them think I don’t know how to live out the wisdom I’ve passed on--thereby leading them to believe everything I’d said was worthless. I learned most people here are stronger and smarter than that. And those that couldn’t handle it couldn’t be my priority that day. They’d just have to do their own reaching.
* Reach out to help. I learned helping others gave my own struggles a sense of purpose & put them in perspective. It also kept me accountable.
* Be grateful. I’ve been given this chance to quit. It may be the only one I have left. I know a whole lot of people personally who never made it. They’re dead. Though I may not have dodged the bullet, I have been given this gift for today. Quitting is a gift, guys; it is not a deprivation. I don’t know a single successful quitter who has said, “It was so not worth the trip. I wish I never quit.” The dead have another story.
jules 9 Months and Grateful