Why is it when we walk into a storre and say "Oh! I really want that!" we don't just grab it off the shelf. We consider, "Can I afford this"?
Why is it when someone steps on our toe in the elevator, we don't cry out, "OWWWW!!!". Because we're mindful of others.
Why is it when someone offers us a drink and we aren't drinkers, we have no problem saying, "No, thank you."
Yet when it comes to smoking, we tend to have such difficulty. We seem to go off the deep end. "Oooohhhh! This is so hard! It's the hardest thing I've EVER done!"
Or, "I just couldn't help it. I HAD to have one and then one led to another, well, that's just how it went...."
This is so fascinating since of course it isn't or won't be the hardest thing you ever do and certainly you didn't have to have the one much less more than that. So why? Why is our mental limit and emotional self-discipline so out of whack when it comes to smoking?
For one thing, we ALLOW our thoughts to take over. We say, "Oh, I just couldn't think of anything else except smoking."
Oh, Pluheeese.........of course you could. And I guarantee you, you definitely would think of something else if someone dropped a pan on your head or if someone told you your son was arrested. Believe me, we have no trouble thinking about what bothers us. We have lots less capability to think about the joys of not smoking. And why is that? To discipline our emotions means we don't stay grumpy just because we quit smoking. Or we don't allow ourselves to be depressed and in our own pity pots.
Someone on here said to me when I was in the early part of my quit, "You sound depressed and angry. You should go see your doctor."
Well, it made me laugh! Because, I thought, how was I supposed to sound?!? I had just quit!!! I was depressed and angry!
But then I read James' blogs about being the 'Happy Quitter'. Well, frankly, I think James is unique. (A little weird, too, but that's another story!) 😉 I haven't known too many happy quitters in my life. However, it did start the wheels to turning and I realized I could be a bit happier about it if I just didn't allow my thoughts to go there. Set the limits. Just like when my cat died. Whenever she'd come into my thoughts, my heart would literally sink! So, I'd have to tell myself, DO NOT GO THERE! and pick up something to read, go for a walk, whatever. Now, when you do things like counsel others, or caretake for elderly folks or work in nursing homes, you discover very quickly that you won't make it without mental and emotional discipline. It's an absolute necessity. So if your paycheck depends on it, and your kids depend on you, then you quickly accumulate some discipline.
My dear, sweet quit family -- I've only been on here for a few months but I want you to know, the desire I had to quit came from me. To maintain that quit, came from you all.
Learn, newbies......you will learn a lot. And believe me, this is what boot camp is all about. Mental toughness, emotional self-discipline.....
PS - The "Battle Rattle" our guys have to carry around with them weighs on average 85 pounds
