planning ahead

part of the american lung association's freedom from smoking program was to list potential relapse situations and what you planned to do instead of smoking; here are a couple of mine:

i've been establishing the habit of looking in the mirror every morning as soon as i wake up and reminding myself that i am a nicotine addict, that i can't afford to feed that addiction even once, and that, today, i choose not to smoke.

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situation one: it's been a while since i quit and the cravings have pretty much disappeared; i've accepted the fact that i'm a non-smoker, and, in fact, i don't even really think about it any more. i run into an old buddy in a bar or at a party and he offers me a cigarette.

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and i'm determined to NEVER FORGET that i'm a nicotine addict who can't afford to take that first puff. i've been establishing the habit of looking in the mirror every morning as soon as i wake up and reminding myself that i am a nicotine addict, that i can't afford to feed that addiction even once, and that, today, i choose not to smoke. i think this is crucial: one of america's founding fathers (franklin? jefferson?) said, "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance", and i believe that's true. i remember my brother bob, who was an alcoholic, using this principle to remain sober for the rest of his life after getting dried out; i'm sure that there wasn't a week during the last 10 or 12 years of his life that he didn't attend at least one aa meeting - even when he was on vacation.

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situation two: i've got three times as many things to do as i can possibly get done in a normal workday, but upper management still expects me to somehow get it all done anyway, and they make it clear that nothing less will do; i'm feeling very stressed out by the overload and there are plenty of people around me who smoke (plus there's a convenience store about a three-minute walk from my desk where they sell cigarettes).

i will: practice deep breathing, remind myself that smoking won't help the situation and that the urge will pass whether i smoke or not, read through my "quit" folder, go online to the ffs message boards and either read or post, count to 1000, take a walk (in the opposite direction of the store), delegate some of my responsibilities to a reliable subordinate, find someone who needs my help and help them (get my mind off of myself and my problems).