facing life
I start my journey today and my anxiety levels are through the roof, how will I cope? I know this is the right direction for me and I walk tentatively on this path. I know I can do it and I just have to keep reminding myself of that. Smoking is a crutch that I have used for 41 years and it is time for me to stand up on my own and face life head-on whatever it brings.
The first few days are hard to get through. My experience is that it becomes easier by the day, but watch out for those pitfalls. This website helped me a lot.
Hi, You will be alright. Where possible take all the pressure off. Just keep ticking each hour off and reward yourself with a hot cuppa and a good book or a nice LOOONG bath tonight. The journey begins with the first step and the hardest one is today letting the darts go and starting your journey in a NEW direction. Its scary but achievable and as you see from this website its all good, life without darts is simply POSITIVE in so many ways.
How will you cope? Well, you know what I really liked about this journey in the beginning...... It was such a nice feeling to feel looked after. Even though I was looking after myself, it was a lovely change, to take the time to have that long bath, read the book, have the cup of tea in bed & go for the morning walks - all these things and many more is how you will cope! Good luck.
Hi pacanaje. Use this site for support, everyone is lovely. Even if you just log on to see how everyone else is going. Gives you an extra kick to keep going. All the best.
Hi pacanaje, people often only consider physical addiction when talking about quitting cigarette smoking. As someone who can quit quite easily (heck, I've done it lots of times) I know physical addiction is not the whole story for some of us. My urge to smoke again usually comes 4 - 6 months after quitting, when there is no physical addiction to cite as the cause. My starting again has not been (other than once) as a result of a traumatic event, but because I miss 'my old friend' who of course we know on an intellectual level is no friend at all.
I have long thought that smoking allows me (and probably some others) to suppress emotions we'd rather not feel. It's a deflection from things we'd prefer not face. I wonder if this is what things might seem like for you?
I'm about to quit again (Sept 1st) and your post made me realise I really need to dig a little deeper into this issue to help myself stay stopped.
I typed "do I use cigarettes as a way to suppress emotion" into Google. The third hit "Emotional Addiction to Tobacco" was a good place to start.
I did the Googling whilst writing this reply. I'll leave it there for now as it is bedtime, but you may have just helped me start to unlock the key of success to staying smoke-free. My problem has never been quitting, the physical withdrawal is a pain, but I can get through it (like raising teenagers :)), but I've allowed the emotional addiction to beat me every time. Until now.
Some wise person once said 'information is power' and I'm on a quest now for information to help me better understand and deal with my emotional reliance on smoking.