Good morning to you and Thank you for the pep talk this morning..
All is going well so far and I am doing a lot of relaxing and deep breathing exercises when the craves hit. Not pushing myself to hard just yet and even slept 12 hours last night.
One major thing I have learned for all this is how important HALT is for me especially the part about eating when hungry and resting when tired. Hey wait a minute what am I saying I take that back. All aspects of HALT are important..feeling or being angry or feeling lonely and alone in the world, this emotions and feeling need to be attended too and not ignored or covered up with a thick smoke screen..They need to be felt and dealt with and then resolved in a positive way, not with some self destructive addictions be it smoking, drinking alcohol, popping pills, taking illegal drugs, gambling or even overeating. These behaviors lead to a life of emotional and physical pain. These behaviors lead to the road of destruction..
So this morning I am paying attention to my feeling and needs. I will acknowledge and feel my emotions. I will eat if hungry. I will rest when when tired. I make sure I get enough sleep and I will not smoke to cover up or deal with my feeling anymore..It is my resolve to be mindful of HALT always.
Roses The important thing to remember is that all is not lost. You've gained so much in your smobriety this past year and however many months. Build on the good that you've done for yourself instead of beating yourself up for having a weak moment. I know how hard it is to stop and that's the reason I let my active addiction go on for over 40 years. Get mad as hell at your addiction and tell yourself that I'll have no more of it. I'm mad as hell and I'm not willing to accept this any longer. Do whatever you need to do to get through the next couple of days. Ice water , healthy snacks and putting yourself on a five minute basis if need be. Dig your heels in the ground and get tough like I know you can and resolve not to be pushed around any longer. Excellent for you for not smoking today, breather
Thanks Breather/Don.Your support is needed and appreciated again. My friend.
I am working my way through day 1 again this morning after several attempts over the last 8 days. I known if I make it past day 3 and even better yet past 7 and 10, I will be free again of this nasty habit and all the poison that it leaves in my system. Well not totally free really because we are addicts and as addicts we have to remember to remain diligent in our resolve and we must be ever vigilant when it comes to our addictions.
We must never take our sobriety for granted for it needs our care and attention. This is where I made my last mistake. I was not paying attention and I let my emotions get out of control. Of course my addiction was laying there like a snake in the grass waiting to strike. I listened to the snake and I took the bite/smoke. So now I must start over again and stay strong and diligent in my resolve to never take another puff again...
Roses You'll get no lecture from me because I know full well that it could just as easily be me. No addict is immune from relapse. The best we can hope for is to be able to abstain on a daily basis in order to recover if that's what we want. I can't , We can. breather
