Cravings Duration it lasts and techniques to deal with it - my first blog - blushing....
I find the brain such a curious object in our bodies....such a strong will to overpower itself and sabotage itself, like wait who is in charge here?
We have all made the commitment to quit (or at least get on this site to learn about quitting) and then we quit, like me, today I am 21 days of Freedom, BUT THE CRAVINGS!!! Are we are such pathetic weak mammal species that we almost give up? No way, says my brain, we will fight for our right to party! Uh oh, just gave my age away. We must fight for our right to survive through the craving - right!? The first few days were rough, I found myself unable to be productive at work, which has now put me in a tail spin, but I did it, and now I am playing catch up at work, just like I would if I had to take a vacation or something and it is doable. The first week sucked: I had dreams that I cheated and went to the store and just sucked away on my vape and loved it, but I woke up and I had not done that, so I went to do my daily pledge instead and then read about other people doing this on this site and just kind of survived in a fog through reading their stories. The first two weeks, I missed my friend, I called him Nicotine, and I was so sad.... so I had a little funeral for his passing, and it gave me the chance to say goodbye, you see my friend Nicotine was killed suddenly, ripped from my arms, and he is not coming back to be with me and I honestly really mourn his loss! Seriously, it is as if a real person has suddenly departed from my life and I was really sad, I loved Nicotine. Throughout the cravings, in the beginning, I would suck on hard candy one after the other in the midst of a craving (I did sugar free cough drops) in the car, at my desk, after coffee.....all the triggers for me. At first, I was so nervous to go in the car, I rescheduled a business opportunity, but I told the client the truth and they were pretty cool, they rescheduled. When I am in the car now, I turn up the radio a little louder and sing or call an old friend and it works! I am learning that YOU are more powerful than your weak mammal brain craving and making it 5 minutes is something to be celebrated, so celebrate small victories, and give yourself a pat on the back for not smoking for 5 minutes. Making it through the FIRST CRAVING, lets call it 'the big one', the one that tells you to get in the car and drive and buy the vape pen and do it because you need it, making it through this is the greatest feeling of success! I also find completely varying my routine during the craving really helps, like stand up and walk around and count the number of red things in the room or blue things or yellow things or silver things or brown things, or do leg lifts and say what you see around you, or try to identify the sounds in the room, like refrigerator, ice machine, electricity, someone talking, a drawer opening, ....anything - just do a simple brain exercise that uses another sense for 5 minutes, we have taste touch smell seeing hearing so I am trying to use another sense to break this bad vaping habit during a bad craving. Most importantly, just try to take your mind away from the craving and remind yourself it will pass it will pass and that you will not give in to this craving. NOPE. I am a cold turkey heavy ex vape user for 5 years.
