Combating Those Nasty Triggers ~

Kudos to me ...

Not that I wish to brag -- but that is kind of one thing this whole experience is about. Besides, according to the author of the best selling “Who Moved My Cheese” -- if you don’t blow your own horn, no one else will do it for you.

So here I am -- Blowing away!
Bragging about how the last few days I’ve been combating my own personal Triggers …

Last Thursday was the perfect day for field work -- sales, not farm -- the temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year, the sun was out, a slight breeze, those are the type of days it’s a joy to be out of the office driving around with the windows down and the sunroof open.

Of course the best thing about being out of the office, pretty much just driving around and waving to people all day, is the fact that I can have as many cigarettes as I want. Even the times I had to go into an account, I stood inside thinking about soon being outside and lighting up.

It seemed as if the entire rest of the week and through the weekend was spent identifying and struggling with all these triggers, some I may have never even given a lot of thought too prior to quitting.

Friday -- Early morning meeting. Spent the entire meeting thinking about when the next “smoke break’ would come.
Friday Lunch -- Went to a buffet, spent the rest of the day thinking I needed a smoke to ‘settle’ my stomach.
Saturday -- working in the yard. Thought I should take a break every so often and ‘review’ my handy-work with a cigarette.
Saturday night -- (the worst) lit the grill and popped the top on a cold one… That’s a Huge Trigger!
Sunday -- I guess I never gave it much thought that I just wanted church to get out sooner so I could smoke.
Sunday afternoon -- Went to an out door play. At intermission, I could smell the sweet aroma from the smoking section drifting my way! I have to admit, I enjoyed it.

Fifteen days and counting and the anxiety seems to be lessening (with a little help from some meds, I’m sure.) The good news to all of this was even though it wasn’t always easy, it hasn't always been hard either!