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Nothing can make you smoke unless you decide to do it.
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Always recognize the truth-you control your hands and your mouth.That's just giving yourself permission to do it, even if the permission comes with the price of beating yourself up later. Never let yourself think that you "might smoke", even if it's in the context of being "afraid" that you will smoke.Take a minute now and remember all the lousy stuff about needing to smoke. If smoking was all that great, you wouldn't have ever considered quitting. Instead, remember what it was really like to need to smoke. And don't envy the smokers who are standing outside furtively getting their fix. Never let your mind start to romanticize how great everything was when you "got to" smoke.You are learning new things and developing new skills every day. It takes a lot of effort but so does everything worth doing. Don't keep telling yourself that it's hard. Yeah, you may have done some damage, but you don't have to do one bit more. Don't let your "junkie" tell you that the damage is already done. It's the beginning of a healthy new lifestyle where unforeseen opportunities will open to you. Never let your mind fall into the old rut of junkie thinking.You might be able to drive too fast without getting caught, but don't step out of a plane just because nobody's around to see you. Which, by the way, is a Law like "gravity," not a law like the "speed limit". There have been too many stories of people who hadn't smoked for years and wound up right back at their old level, kicking themselves every puff of the way, for anyone to seriously question the law of addiction. Never doubt that one cigarette will make you a smoker again.Laughter is a much better, more effective, and healthier relaxant than inhaling poisons. Take it slow and easy on a trigger that also lowers your inhibitions and capacity for rational thought. Deal with the triggers early on and don't leave yourself feeling deprived. In the first days of quitting you may associate everything with smoking. Say you associate sitting on your porch with smoking. Never deny yourself something good because you quit smoking.Try writing, "I am so glad to be free" on a post-it and sticking it to your bathroom mirror so that you are sure to remind yourself of this every morning. And your subconscious really does come to believe what you tell yourself. Easier, actually-there are fewer syllables. It's just as easy to say "I feel great" as it is to say "Oh, am I ever suffering". Often tell yourself how good you feel.You'll be amazed at how fast you come to take the benefits for granted. Even on your first smoke-free day, you can find something good, even if it's just your money jar. Everyone sees the healing changes at different rates. Often point out the good stuff to yourself.Instead, change the mental image to a picture of the nastiest, most uncomfortable, unwanted cigarettes you ever smoked. Never allow yourself to visualize yourself enjoying a cigarette.
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Never allow yourself to think "I could have just one." Change it to "I could become a smoker again." They amount to the same thing.Change it to something wordy enough to take the passion out of the sentiment, like, "I'm feeling some tension that I would have interpreted in the past as a desire for a cigarette." Same goes for "I want to smoke." In addition to being unemotional, analyzing the feeling makes you realize that you are not actually in pain over a craving to smoke. Never allow yourself to think "I need to smoke." That's way too emotional.
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