Literally, and with regard to my quit...
Today (Day 3) I thought I had pretty much in the bag--clear sailing all day, and by far my easiest day. There were some major stressors to contend with, the main ones being the following
-diagnosis of stress fracture that will sideline me from my running
-a young "lady" at the welfare office where I work getting confrontational with me (nothing unusual, except that we were not separated by a desk between us, and she actually got in my face. I actually had to look for an exit route.)
-a glass of wine with the landlord (a smoker) when I went to pay rent.
As I was patting myself on the back....WHAM!!! The craving hit me so hard you'd have thought that this is the NML stage that everyone talks about. I thought I was prepared but I was not.
I got on the forum. Read some posts. Pulled out my cheatsheet of stuff from Allen Carr's book. Re-read everything. Finally, put out an S.O.S. message, and stayed glued to my seat while the advice and encouragement came pouring in from this community. I can't thank you enough for your helpful tips.
In addition to the mental exercises that are, truly, the best defense and offense...I will say that these are the ACTIONS that helped me the most in that moment:
1. Head in the freezer. Deep breaths.
2. Music. Had to try a few different things to find something that didn't make me more anxious. (Thoughts...create a play-list of songs or videos on youtube, for these moments?)
3. Dance. I've been learning the bachata, and just the concentration of having to remember the steps helped to distract me.
4. A storm. As luck would have it, at the tail-end of this craving, came a tremendous thunder and lightning storm. I watched it from the porch, taking in deep breaths. And then remembered my car windows were open. Dashing out into the rain helped. (Thoughts....blast yourself in the face with the showerhead, or the shower attachment thing on the sink. Really. Can it hurt?)
5. Ice water. Lots of it.
6. Throw the car keys in the toilet bowl. For safe-keeping. (okay, I didn't do this. But the thought crossed my mind!)
7. Send out an S.O.S. on the forum. (Can't say it' won't happen again, folks.) THANK YOU!
The storm has passed. Yippeeeee!!!
