GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or thinking of quitting, please -- join us!
You can also click the GUS tag to view all diary posts.
My past attempts at quitting smoking have involved the use of hypnosis, nicotine gum/patches, cold turkey through self-induced aversion therapy, and the Smokenders program. Using these techniques has helped many people to give up smoking.
With different techniques, it is my firm belief is that whatever works must be good for you. The only thing that I endorse is that whatever you do, be careful, and check with a physician, if necessary. Given that many of us (raises hand) don't have insurance or a ton of money, the best that we can do is be well-prepared, and go easy on ourselves if this attempt at smoke-free living doesn't pan out this time.
Just keep trying. As my friend Ed, a ten-year recovered smoker, told me after one of my past relapses to smoking: "Every failure brings you one step closer to success."
SallyCat, in Sunday afternoon's GUS diary, offered three valuable questions about smoking (my answers in blockquote):
Why did I start?
*To be "cool" (age 17 is the year I bought my first car, and started buying my own cigarettes).
*To match a romantic image I had of James Dean, driving along, left arm w/cig hanging out the window.
*Sick of being an "A" student... time to be bad.
What are the triggers that keep me smoking?
*Boredom.
*A cup of coffee.
*Procrastination (until I figure out how to get from point A to point B with this given project, I'll have a smoke, and "think about it")
*Relationships. Of which a whole chapter could be (and so forth)...
Why do I want to quit?
*On all levels, I can't afford the habit anymore.
*Feeling like a dip, when I'm walking along with my cigarette.
*Looking for a more natural boost of energy.
*I'm tired of thinking of myself as a slave to Big Tobacco.
Or, "how a false perception becomes a friend." Take me along, you'll be cool. Bored? I'll hang with you. Coffee and cigarette? Mmmm.... speed and more speed. Got a problem to solve? Fire away, and I'll help you to make it look like you are trying to solve it. Feeling the pressure of closeness in your relationship? Feeling leaned on? Here, lean on me. Nothing bad will happen.
As stated in my previous diary, I hate being lied to. Probably because I am capable of lying to myself.
Here are the basic things I'm doing to ease from nicotine addiction. It's not rocket science (and I don't think it has to be):
*Drink lots of water
*Use nicotine substitute
*Take deep breaths
*Have a stretch or a nap
*DO something... bicycle, call a friend, take a walk
I'm two days into this now, and so far... pretty good. Boredom being a great smoking trigger and all, I'm fortunate to have had plenty of activity drop into my lap. Though I don't put stock in higher deities, it is both odd and fortuitous that once I made this recent decision to give up smoking, the void ("what am I going to do when I'm feeling restless?") filled up really damn quick.
It's good to be busy. And even better to remain vigilant:
WORK: My old habit is to "reward" myself with a cigarette after reaching a certain point of completion. Finish painting these two rooms, have a smoke. Spindles... hundreds of them... done! Time to smoke. In the case of this week, it's an exterior window glazing/painting project. Complete the lower window glazing... stretch. Have some water. And breathe. Deep breaths are associated with long drags off a cigarette, so in a strange way, I am satisfying a craving of sorts.
ARTISTIC: I am busy learning guitar parts for eleven songs that I will be playing in a side project I am involved with. Here, I am given the opportunity to ditch the old B.S. ideas that smoking somehow enhances my creativity, or gives me more street cred as a musician. Of major benefit is that most of the other musicians I am working with (my main band, as well as this side project) do not smoke. So much for being "cool!"
SOCIAL: Right now, I'm hanging with the non-smokers. My best friend is a smoker, and I have spent many hours on his sun porch smoking and happily waxing philosophically with him and his wife. I may get together with them next week, and I have no doubts that they will be thrilled to hear that I am ditching the nic sticks. Regardless, I will want to be sure that I am properly "steeled up" before meeting up with them.
And finally, my current GUS attempt will be the first time I have used group support to achieve this goal. I must say, it has been both a thrill to meet so many different members of the Daily Kos community! As it applies directly to staying smoke-free, it helped me greatly to wind down last night, the first of many more, free from cigarettes.
This video is cribbed from webranding's diary on tribes. Please take three minutes to check this out. I find great correlation with the lone dancing guy, and last week's diary posting from one lone Kossack that encouraged a bunch of us to try this thing out. Big hat tip to Rosebuddear!
The diarists (so far!):
*SallyCat (please contact if you are interested in writing a GUS diary)
*Rosebuddear
*bgblcklab1
*bsmechanic
*theater goon
*seenaymah
Current members of the GUS team! Please comment or email bsmechanic35 at yahoo, if you would like to join, or if your name is here in error:
1BQ
amk for obama
bgblcklab1
blue husky
bsmechanic
coppercelt
flumptytail
gchaucer2
Im a frayed knot
interceptor7
LarsThorwald
magicsister
MinervainNH
nannyboz
Pennsylvanian
sallycat
seenaymah
UPDATE: SallyCat's evening GUS edition is now up! Thanks to all of you for stopping by.