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Pretenders vs Contenders
Pretenders or Contenders
by Titotiger
Lots of Newbies join the Q every day with hopes of quitting smoking. They set down their Quit date, they buy their NRTs, and then they make a decision and don`t even realize that they are making the decision. They decide if they are going to be Pretenders or Contenders.
Pretenders pick a quit date but then that date rolls around and they still have 5 cigarettes left in the pack. Darn; well you don`t want to waste them. So you smoke those last 5 cigarettes and, well now that you already smoked today, it doesn`t make any sense for this to be your quit day. So you buy another pack and set another quit date. Okay this next quit date arrives and, wouldn`t you know it, you are faced with a really stressful situation. Anybody have a cigarette? Okay you only had 1. But now the weekend is coming up and you are going out with some friends who all smoke. Alright so this weekend is not a good time to quit. We`ll start again next week. And next week becomes the following week, etc. Pretenders find every excuse available to put that quit off for just 1 more day. Pretenders are easy people to recognize - they smoke. I know; I used to be a Pretender.
Contenders, on the other hand, wake up the day of their quit and don`t have any cigarettes left. They threw those last 5 out the night before. Tore them up and flushed them down the toilet. Cigarette lighter and ash tray? Gone! Contenders are headed in a new direction. They are not going to quit forever but they are going to quit TODAY. N.O.P.E. (Not One Puff Ever) is their motto for the day. If anyone offers them a cigarette they look them in the eye and say, `No thank you. I DON`T SMOKE.` And they walk away. They drink water, they exercise, they get on the Q and vent. They do `Whatever IT Takes` not to smoke today. And at the end of the day they say, `I made it. Now, I`m not going to smoke just for tomorrow.` This is a winner. This is a Contender.
How about you? What are you going to be today? Pretender or Contender? The Q can help you but ultimately the decision is yours. Why not think like a Contender today? Just for 1 day say, `I AIN`T SMOKING NO MATTER WHAT. NO EXCUSES ARE ACCEPTIBLE. I HAVE TOO MANY REASONS TO QUIT.` That`s the attitude that will carry you to success.
So how about it: Are you a Pretender or a Contender today?
See You At The Top
Dave
(Quit 4-12-03; Passed 5-20-14)