I am on day 549 of my quit. The main tool I still use to fight the nicodemon is "Be Kind To Me". The nicodemon is strongest when I need to say to hell with everyone and everything else and take care of me. When I reach the "me" point, I "allow" myself to take care of me. As a Mom, Wife and Employee, I have spent my adult life putting everyone else's needs in front of my own. I realized if I was going to beat the nicodemon, I had to put me first.
I still have days that I romanticize the nicodemon. Romanticize a demon? That seems insane, yet, it happens. NOPE is my chant. My defenses are weaker because they haven't been excercised as much recently - the cravings are not as strong or as often. Hence, the romanticism. NOPE.
Sometimes, I wish I couldn't smell quite so well. The dogs that my husband insists on, the stinky dish clothe, the garbage that needs to be taken out...these smells are actually stressors now. BUT, if I couldn't smell these, I also couldn't smell the "new" car smell, the flowers or the scented oils I use now.
In the beginning, I typed a lot on this site and searched Youtube for all kinds of videos related to stopping smoking. I found the combination of support on the site, the hypnosis videos (no, I never really went 'under', but the music and even tones of the speaker helped drain stress and anxiety away), tapping (especially helpful when I was sitting at a stop light for the 3rd time) and Dr. Weaver's Stop Smoking seminars (5 total) got me through many tough spots. The more I learned the more I realized how much my body was repairing itself each and every day. Please hang in there...You are in control of your future, not the nicodemon. You are worth it! You are special! N.O.P.E!!!! (Not One Puff Ever)
Here are the links to several videos I watched. I hope they help others as much as they helped me.
hypnosis:
tapping:
Stop smoking with Dr. Weaver:
