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keptpromise · ‎01-23-2017

Description

I had very successfully quit smoking for 15 years, after smoking for 15 years. I was one of those awful reformed smokers who could not stand smoking! I never had one single craving. Then......I got divorced and started going out to Happy Hour with a friend who smoked. You got it.....it took just one puff, and I slipped right back into a full fledged smoker. I hated smoking, I hated myself for smoking, I always was trying to quit. Every time I tried and did not succeed, it just really made me even more disappointed in myself. I smoked for another 8 years! I have quit, for good this time, on January 5, 2011!! It is so true that each quit is different, and all it takes is just one puff. I'm living proof of that.

THINGS I HAVE READ AND SAVED FROM THIS SITE, THAT I FIND TRULY INSPIRATIONAL:

Beware of Garbage Trucks

by David J. Pollay

submitted by Rene Robinson

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she or he can get back their focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.

We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden,

a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident,

whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

And this is when my taxidriver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

Many people are like garbagetrucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.

You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did.

So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck." I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people:

at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

I began to see garbagetrucks. Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead People."

Well, now "I see Garbage Trucks." I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite footballplayers of all time, Walter Payton,

did this every day on the

football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled.

He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.

Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home

from school with hugs and kisses. Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people

do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet. You'll be happier.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance , TAKE IT! If it changes your life , LET IT! Nobody said it would be easy... They just promised it would be worth it!

How to be a Happy Quitter! (or just plain HAPPY!)

To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If
you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever
increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires
effort. This is one of the things that discipline - training - is
about. James Clavell, in his novel "Shogun"

We often talk about Positive Mental Attitude and celebrate folks who demonstrate their positivity while some folks wonder how to get it and where it comes from, especially in their earliest days of the quit when what they feel is anxiety, exhaustion, loss, deprivation, frustration,etc. We all know those feelings. Occassionally somebody asks, "When will my feeelings change?" Answer: 'Tuseday, the Tuesday that you DECIDE to let them change!" Our entire Society is based on the idea that Happiness is a Right (as in the Constitution) or Gift (They're So LUCKY! They're always Happy!) The TRUTH is the Constitution calls for Responsibilty - the PURSUIT of Happiness! You see, rights come with the responsibility to protect those rights not just for myself but for all my fellow citizens! As for gifts - yes, that gift has been given from our Creator to each and every single one of us including YOU and ME! But did I open my heart to receive that gift, or was I afraid I'd be too vulnerable? Many of us are scared of true Happiness, as ironic as that sounds. And it doesn't just come to us - it is a Discipline! As James Clavell (a very awesome writer BTW) points out, it requires EFFORT! It requires you to put the brakes on that downward spiral of negativity where our minds often tend to go and replace it with LIFE AFFIRMING thought processes! That's where Affirmations come in! This isn't just feel good lefty hocus-pocus it is an entire Discipline that has been highly studied! It's called Neuro-Linguistics, how your brain actually changes when you put the brakes on negative thoughts and replace them with affirmations! Anybody can do this! Have you seen poor people, sick people, people who are grieving, people who have suffered tornadoes or other disasters, unemployed, homeless, who are happy? I have! And we ask ourselves, "How can they be so HAPPY?!" They're happy because they CHOSE to change their perspective and it didn't happen overnight - it happened one day at a time! DISCIPLINE! The Good News is that YOU and I can do this too! Happiness can be learned! The Choice is OURS!

Brief Description

54 year old female. Registered Nurse.

Website

No website in profile.

Location

SW Florida

Interests

Need to find some new ones!! 🙂 UPDATE: After being nicotene free for 6 months.....I joined LA Fitness! So I can now add fitness and yoga to my Interests.

Skills

No skills in profile.