I Made It...

Well, last night most certainly sucked rotten eggs, dinnit? No worries, I am now and will always remain smoke free. I went to the movies...LOTR: Return of the King. Great crave buster...reminded me of why its good to be an ex-smoker. There is no way I could`ve sat through that long ass movie or enjoyed it as much if I still smoked. :~)I am a bit disappoined that so few people answered my help post on the Q...but I value the responses I did get. The support there really can be great..if a bit slow at times.. Ultimately though...it is up to one person and one person alone to keep you quit...YOU.

Note To Self.....

Self...smoking won`t fix this, you know. I don`t know why you`re even entertaining the thought. You`re doing everything necessary to combat the depression. Things will level out soon....they always do. You`ve got to hang on to that. Yes, it`s hard. Yes, it`s tiresome and frustrating. But it ends. You can ride this out the same way you`ve ridden out every other lousy thing that`s happened. But not if you smoke. If that happens, you`ll think this black mood was a walk in the park. It will get infinitely worse because you`ll have thrown away 8 hard earned months, you`ll have disappointed yourself and everyone that loves you and has supported you all this time...plus you`ll look like an ass!Self...you really don`t want to smoke. Think of how well you can breathe now. What about all the things you were able to splurge on because of quitting? Do you want to go back to having nothing...to pinching every penny til it shrieks? I don`t think so. Think about the confidence and self respect you have gained. C`mon, self...snap out of the junkie thoughts.What about Mom? If you go down, she just might throw away her 11 days. You know you couldn`t take that. Just a few weeks ago, she didn`t care if she lived or died...now she`s quit. Yes, its wrong to guilt trip you like that. One shouldn`t get wrapped up in another`s quit...but this is MOM. If you carry on, maybe she will too. You know you`re the one that convinced her to quit. She thinks if you can do it, she can do it. So be it. Show her you can and are doing it. Smoking isn't an option anymore, NO MATTER WHAT.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

My worries about my first smokefree holiday were pretty much unfounded...proving once again that worry is the most wasteful emotion! I worried about the tribal gatherings, but my estranged family members behaved, as did I. We actually got along rather well, miracle of miracles! I worried that the stress might get to me and maybe convince me to do something stupid...like smoke. I didn`t even crave. In fact, I was happy to not need smoke breaks while making Xmas dinner, and REALLY happy to not have to freeze my butt off outside. Had a nasty cold snap with extreme wind chills....I felt bad for the smokers, but I sure didn`t want to be one of them. So there`s my realization of the month, folks. Bobby McFerrin said it best......Don`t worry, be happy! I gotta stop borrowing trouble when I already have more than enough. Stuff is almost always never as bad as we worry it`s going to be.