endlesspatience

So, I've been sharing over the past week about the very negative and angry reaction I've been having around people who smoke cigarettes. It seems to be some sort of delayed reaction to addiction. I stopped smoking about 18 months ago but before that I'd smoked for 20 years.

Anyway, for the past few days I've been calmer around it. It definitely helps that I've shared about it here. I also try to avoid the places I know smokers hang out and if I do see them I try to remember they are just addicts, like I was.

I also tell myself that even as I sit here in my nice clean, smoke free home, they are out there in the cold smoking away. When they bought more cigarettes this morning, they didn't ask themselves whether I was angry with them or not. It makes not a blind bit of difference to their addiction.

Other things that have helped have been going to the gym and at the same time listening to an old stop smoking tape I used last year to help me give up. It says "Thoughts of smoking will soon fade, like a dream. You will think about smoking less and less. You will hardly notice smokers and if you do you will pity them. If anyone offers you a cigarette you will say "No thanks, I don't smoke". You are a happy non-smoker and will be for the rest of your life."

I'm not at that stage yet but I'm closer than I was last week. I hope that if I keep doing these exercises for another week or so I'll get more serenity on this one, just as I have with a lot of other negative thoughts and addictive and self-destructive behaviour patterns in my life.

Dee74

I'm glad you're making progress EP

D

Soberwolf

Good stuff EP

endlesspatience

I had another day when I was calm about smoking. I see it as being a bit like counting days of abstinence from booze. After all, anger, especially self-righteous anger, is a kind of drug in a way, isn't it? Basically, I was busy doing other things. Still, I need to stay vigilant.