Stop Smoking Systems

A Division of Bridge2Life Consultants

BOOK ONE


READ THIS FIRST

Just read it..It’s short…It won’t take you that long

AND SMILE BECAUSE YOUR SMOKING DAYS

ARE ALMOST OVER

 

AN IMPORTANT SYSTEM OVERVIEW

CHAPTER I

THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN

 

You may be thinking…’Great! It’s come to this!  This was not the plan when I started smoking. Everyone was doing it.  I felt sophisticated and cool and like I fit in with the elite.  And now, here I am…my health is in danger; I don’t even want to know what my lungs look like.  I even avoid going to the doctor for check ups in fear of what horrible thing they’ll tell me about what smoking, chewing, cigars or whatever form I’ve been ingesting nicotine and all the poisons associated with it has done to me.  Some of my friends avoid me because I smell like an old smoke stack.  My house smells of the stench of nasty old rotted out filters and the smell of old cigarette smoke clings to the walls.  Don’t even talk about my car.  I’ve tried quitting a hundred times or I haven’t tried at all.  I wanted to be smug and say “Hey, I can quit any time I want, I just don’t want to quit so I don’t have to”…and yet here I am.  I feel like a loser who can’t even control this one thing.  And my hair…don’t even get me started on what my hair smells like.  The texture of it used to be so healthy and now it just looks and smells like limp, smoke infested straw.  My face used to be so smooth and now I have lines around my mouth and I look like a caricature of the person I used to be.  I blow second hand smoke to anyone who is around me, even my own children, without even giving it a second thought.  I can’t get up in the morning without a cigarette or some chew or a cigar or some kind of nastiness.  I’ve spent a ton of money on cigarettes and now stop smoking aids and nothing stops me.  If I quit I’m afraid I’ll lose my ever lovin’ mind or gain a thousand pounds. 

 

WELL WELCOME TO THE CLUB MY FRIEND…YOU’VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!

 

We completely and fully understand every single thing you are feeling…we felt the same way ourselves and found a way out without pills or patches or expensive gum.  And

 

THE WAY OUT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A VEIL OF TEARS!  IT’S ACTUALLY KIND OF FUN AND EXCITING!!!

 

I know you want to shoot us for just saying that but it’s true.  All those feelings of self pity and demoralization are going to be replaced by self esteem and well being.  Many of the effects of smoking ARE REVERSABLE!

You will start getting well just 20 minutes after you finish your last cigarette.  And a whole new way of life will be waiting for you.  We promise.  If you will put aside ALL YOUR OLD BELIEFS and prejudices and follow this program to the letter, you will join hundreds of people who have quit just like you and would never consider smoking again.  I’d love to guarantee the results but you and I both know that’s nonsense.  You’ve spent enough of your life having quick fix promises that you’ll stop smoking in 30 minutes for just one small price fail only to feel hopeless again. 

 

Nope, this isn’t going to take 30 minutes or one day.  It’s going to be a 2 week process of self discovery, education and evaluation.  And then it’s over.  By the time we’re done with you, smoking will never be the same and even if you do try to go back to smoking, we seriously doubt that you’ll really want to. 

 

As you go through this process, you may need our email support, and it is certainly available to you.  But with or without that support, you can work this system and have excellent results.  It has worked for lots of folks before you and it can work on you too.

It’s time to get started

 

READ THE NEXT CHAPTER

 

CHAPTER II

BEFORE YOU SET YOUR DATE

 

We want to take a minute to breathe and talk about all the options available to you on your journey.  We need to make it clear that we have no opinion on the many smoking aids out there.  Our job is to inform you about those products and what they contain, but it is not our intent to deprive you of anything that might help you quit smoking.  There are lots of ways up this mountain, and this system is all about you and helping you have the healthy life you want.  If you need patches or gum or other aids to help you, so be it.  But use those things while you work this system and don’t miss any of the processes in the workbook. 

 

When we take a look at ourselves and the emotions beneath the clouds of smoke, it can be overwhelming.  Many of us need professional help during the process, and that help might include medication.  We certainly want you to know that if your support team needs to include therapists, psychiatrists and anything they prescribe, we support you all the way. Nobody knows you like you do and no one knows your history.  This system for smoking cessation isn’t a snap and it isn’t a band aid…it is a program of self discovery.  We try to make it interesting and fun and it is fun getting our lives back.  But, we also recognize that it is often beneficial to have the support of a professional while we complete the workbook assignments. 

 

In fact, if you are seeing a therapist currently, we highly recommend that you show that professional the workbook and allow them to participate in the recovery program with you.  Our phone consultants are here to be your cheerleaders and encourage you along the road.  But we are not psycho therapists and we do not want to do anything that interferes with any other recovery programs in which you are involved. 

 

If you are in twelve step programs, YEA FOR YOU!!!!

 

We recommend that you get with your sponsor and look over the workbook and align it with your steps.  We’ve tried to develop the workbook to be compatible with twelve step programs as a way to enhance your recovery from whatever.  You’ll see in Debi’s story references to twelve step programs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOR THE SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS FOLKS

 

YEA!  You already have a power source outside yourself that you believe in and from whom you get your sustenance.  We are thrilled and support all beliefs.  Finding a power greater than ourselves is crucial in this process.  We have no opinion whatsoever on any religious sect or spiritual teachings.  We have tried diligently to develop a workbook that honors all beliefs and encourages our clients to invite that higher power into the process of healing. 

 

FOR OUR AGNOSTIC FRIENDS

We understand completely.  There are some wonderful books out there that address agnostics and they might be a good idea to read.  For quick reading, the Chapter entitled We Agnostics in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is a good read.  But, once again, we have no opinion on this at all.  Remember you promised to be open minded (yes you did) and consider all possibilities.  But regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, this program can and will work for you.  We are open minded too.  And we are not here to judge or condemn, but rather to help and support.  So agree to consider all possibilities and hang in there with us.

 

ANY ATHIESTS OUT THERE?

There is nothing wrong with your position at all!  You believe whatever you need to believe.  It isn’t our job to tell you that you are wrong at all.  Not one bit.  Oh yes, we will challenge you to consider some alternatives, but you are under no obligation whatsoever to change your position.  We hope you know that we have created a workbook designed to help everyone and you can still have tremendous results just by working the process.  But, again, remember that you promised to keep an open mind (yes you did) and consider this just part of your life discovery process where you check out everything and accept only that with which you feel comfortable. 

 

That’s enough about higher powers and related programs.  Let’s talk about the forbidden subject:

 

WHAT’S UP DOC?

Yes, it’s time to get the facts.  Go ahead and do it.  Make the appointment for a checkup.  I know you hate this and we don’t require it by any means.  But you are starting a new life and it’s time to take stock of what’s gone on this far.  Remember that your body is going to heal in many ways and your health has a wonderful chance of getting better.  Nothing like a good old visit with the doctor to get you inspired to quit.  And if you’re thinking “I’m too far gone, the doctor is only going to tell me the bad news and I might as well smoke because the report is going to be awful and I’m going to feel worse than I already do and like more of a loser than ever.”  Nice try, but we don’t buy it.  You already know that it is the intent of cigarette manufacturers to do you bodily harm.  This is not a mystery.  There are 4000 poisons in a cigarette.  They aren’t in there to make you feel good.  They will, indeed, have victory over you.  Take your workbook with you to the doctor’s office and have a talk about it.  Maybe your doctor will recommend vitamin supplements or other suggestions for you as you start this new journey.  Just have a good old physical and let’s deal with this.  It is the not knowing that contributes to the disease of nicotine addiction.  If there is something wrong with you, continuing to smoke isn’t going to help it, now is it!  So get a clear picture of where you are physically and get it over with.  Having a good doctor on your recovery team is a great asset.

 

Now let’s talk about commitment.  Did that just make your heart skip a little beat?  We live in a commitment phobic society don’t we?  The very thought of doing something permanently forever, once and for all, just sends us running out into the night with our hands flailing over our heads.  It’s kind of sad and kind of cute.  Cigarettes used to be our best friends, and we made a serious commitment to them didn’t we.  So we fully expect you to be resistant and to wonder if you can do this.  Well, stop that.  You can do this, you will do this and you will win!  Forget about the cigarettes for a minute and just think about yourself…your person…the you that you’ve lived with all your life.  You are going to be with you for the rest of your life, and in the process of completing the workbook; we hope that you will discover that you are fabulous!  And since you will be with you for all those days and years to come, why not make a commitment to yourself to make that time as wonderful as you possibly can.  Again, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.   The commitment is to yourself…and the party is for you.  It’s time to be the star of your own movie.

 

Okay, so we’ve covered your preliminary steps before setting the date:

Your Emotional Health

Your Spiritual Temperature

Your Physical Health

Your Commitment to a New Life

BUT…

 

 

 

 

WHAT IF YOU GAIN WEIGHT!!!!!!!

 

That’s right, we said it!  The number one reason people give up on themselves and go back to cigarettes.  Fear of weight gain!  Well, maybe you will, but we doubt it.  Using our workbook and program, the chances are good that you will be feeling really good about yourself and engaging in some healthy alternative activities that will promote your health and welfare.  In Debi’s story, you will hear her experience with weight loss as a result of stopping smoking. 

 

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GET FAT TO STOP SMOKING…

IT IS NOT A REQUIREMENT!

 

AND

 

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH WEIGHT

DO YOU FOR ONE SECOND THINK THAT SMOKING IS HELPING YOU WITH THAT?

 

COME ON

 

IN OUR TESTIMONIAL SECTION, YOU’LL HEAR FROM PEOPLE WHO GAINED A NEW OUTLOOK AND LOST WEIGHT!

 

Okay, okay, enough with the lecture.  We have just seen so many people give up on themselves because they fear weight gain.  The idea of the hundreds of diseases caused by smoking doesn’t faze them, but the idea of having to buy a larger dress or pant size paralyzes them in fear.  It just makes us sick to hear it.  But that is their issue, NOT YOURS.  You have already read this far, so it’s just a matter of time.

 

BUT WAIT

 

WHAT IF IT HURTS TO QUIT

If we could take a magic wand and wave it over your head and make quitting smoking easy and painless, we would!  Seriously!  But look at your history for a clue.  Every time you have tried a pain free quick fix quick has it worked?  Well, not really because here we are! 

 

But no one can blame you for wishing it would be painless.  Cigarettes and tobacco products are loaded with chemicals that make withdrawals painful.  They just are.  To think you can quit painlessly is unrealistic.  BUT, it is not a long term process AND it does not have to be a veil of tears.  I really don’t.  The first few days are not going to be pleasant, but after that the symptoms of withdrawal will lessen every day.  Debi’s story will help you see how quitting affected her.  So yes, dear friend, it is not going to be a stroll in the park, but if you follow the workbook completely and do everything we suggest, you’ll feel much much better very soon.

 

Withdrawals are sometimes lonely and rough.  As you’ll see in the workbook, a support team is crucial.  Our staff is here to support you as well via phone consults.  We are a safe resource for you because we all know exactly what it feels like to go through the process and we are with you every step of the way.  At any time you can EMAIL US AT BRIDGE2LIFE@SBCGOBAL.NET

 

Phone consultations are made by appointment.

 

 

All appointments are made on an individual basis.  Here is a testimonial from Leslie, one of our clients who now has been a non smoker for ten years:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I was the worst smoker in the world.  I smoked over two packs of heavy duty cigarettes a day.  When I was 24 I was already burned out by cigarettes…no pun intended.  I started trying everything.  When I started the Stop Smoking System, I was overweight and had spent $1428.00 on “quit smoking today!” programs.  Of course they didn’t work.  I loved the workbook and the information system.  You have it easy! When I quit smoking I had to go to the library and create my own information book.  But I needed personal attention and Debi was my personal consultant.  Throughout the process, I had a standing 11pm phone consultation appointment with Debi.  I knew I could make it through the day because I would be talking to my consultant at the end of the day.I knew I could make it through the day because I would be talking to my consultant at the end of the day.  A few times in the beginning, I had to talk to her a couple of times a day.  But that personal contact with someone who knew exactly what I was going through really helped me.  My stop date was May 5, 1990.  I now have a healthy child who has never seen me smoke and will never have to eat my second hand smoke.  Life is good today thanks to Stop Smoking Systems consulting service.

                                            eLeslie, Oklahoma City

One of our favorites was Wayne, a hard sell Midwestern boy.  Here is his story:

I’m a catch.  I’ve always considered myself to be a ladies man.  In fact, I thought of myself as the sexy Marlboro man.  That was right up until the day my girlfriend left me because she couldn’t stand to smell me anymore.  Doctors told me to quit but nothing worked.  So I tried getting shots in my head to quit smoking which worked for a little while but made me sick as a dog when I went ahead and smoked anyway.   And that’s when she kicked me out of the house.  I was cleaning out my truck and found the Stop Smoking Systems card and called the number.  I made an appointment for a phone meeting with one of the people there and made it through the whole thing with their help.  I stopped smoking 6 years ago.                                                                                            

*Wayne     St. Paul, Minnesota

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


A number of calls are handled by Debi personally as your stop smoking coach.  But, keep in mind that you can work this program all by yourself if you like.  There is no obligation whatsoever.  It’s just one more option available to you.

 

So let’s hear from Debi, the person who developed this program and then we’ll be ready to set your date.

 

 

READ ON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER III

Debi’s Story

Well, first, as my good friend says, I’m sorry it’s come to this.  If you’re anything like me, you feel betrayed and furious at this addiction.  I loved cigarettes.  I loved the shiny gold flip box and the long slim styles and on wild nights at the bar the hard core soft pack serious cigarettes.  I loved them all.  I loved menthol, I loved regulars if you were smoking them and you were buying.  I loved the feeling of sophistication that I associated with smoking.  I fancied myself living a fabulous Casa Blanca life with my pretty little cigarette case and my beautiful gold lighter with my sorority crest on the outside.   Of course I had a zippo for those nights at the rodeo when I needed to look cool in cowboy boots and suede jackets.  I was a snob about disposable lighters.  I’d rather use clever matches from exotic places than resort to one of those tacky plastic butane things!  Oh I was a fox.  And cigarettes were my very best companion.  Not booze or pills or even a hot date could give me the feeling of well being that my favorite cigarette provided.  I loved to light them and feel that initial high from the first drag.  I loved the feeling of buying a new carton of cigarettes in the pretty box with gold raised embossed lettering.  Used to pride myself on knowing my friends favorite brands and give cartons, gift wrapped with huge bows, as gifts.

 

When it came to non smoking areas…uh huh.  Those rules did not apply to me.  I smoked anywhere I darned well pleased cuz who cares.  Smoking was cool and it was the thing to do and it never once occurred to me that smoking in someone’s face was rude and it certainly did not register that my second hand smoke might affect someone’s health.  Smoking is a very selfish disease isn’t it.  I never cared for a minute about anyone else but myself and my smoking satisfaction.  I could not imagine five minutes without a cigarette or planning for the next smoke. 

 

What started at age fifteen as something cool and quaint had turned into a filthy habit that made me into a selfish slave, addicted to cigarettes and without choice.  My first time to “swear off” was college.  I was always going to quit after the next test, after I finished that term paper, after I got over the break up with a boyfriend, this summer for sure, before I go on the trip, I’ll quit for Easter, I’ll quit right after New Year’s, on my birthday…and on went the bargaining phase.  I tried cutting down and would then pat myself on the back that I had such magnificent willpower that I could control the number of cigarettes that I smoked.  This achievement would be rewarded with a pack of exotic imported colored cigarettes with gold wrapped filters.  On I’d go until very quickly I escalated right back up to my usual pack and a half a day.  I would instantly forget my bravado about quitting and go on my merry way until the next time I vowed that it was time to cut back.

 

As the years went by, I spent very little time feeling remorse about smoking. Mostly I justified it if I thought about it at all.  Never, in all my years of smoking did I ever try to quit.  Never.  I was famous for saying “Oh, I could quit any time I want, but I don’t need to quit and I don’t want to quit, so I don’t have to.”  I cannot imagine how many times I said that.  Here’s my favorite…

 

I was convinced that smoking helped curb my appetite.  Upon rare occasion, I would consider quitting but I was certain that I would gain weight.  The funniest thing happened.  When I decided to stop smoking and begin creating a program to help myself, I found all the pictures of me holding a cigarette.  They weren’t hard to come by since I could not form a sentence in my brain without one.  In the collection is a picture of me so overweight it was pathetic, sitting in a huge mu mu over huge blue jeans, my hair a mess, my face puffy and red, with a big old cigarette hanging out of my mouth.  Yep, cigarettes were a great diet aid.  I remember the day I burned all those old pictures in effigy as I started my new life.  Gosh, that seems like a whole person ago.

 

My bargaining and elaborate justification phase ended in my late twenties.  I went to the doctor for yet another bout of pneumonia, and he told me that my constant flu attacks and other health problems were due to smoking.  He said these words that I will never forget, “Debi, if you don’t stop smoking I’d hate to see what you look like in fifteen years.”  My very first thought after he said that was “What the hell, I’ve got fifteen years.”  This bothered me.  It was really the first time that I felt conflicted.  What was I saying to myself?  I was willing to go through fifteen more years of sickness and the inevitability of serious diseases for what?  To try to get back that feeling of belonging and sophistication that I had when I started? It bothered me so much that on my way home, hovered over the steering wheel, so sick that I could barely see, I forgot to buy cigarettes. 

 

That night I laid in bed sick with fever and unable to move.  I don’t think I have ever been that ill.  My lungs gurgled with fluid and I was just miserable.  At midnight I woke up like I always did at midnight for my pre-dawn cigarette fix.  I was so sick and I sat up and said to myself “I just can’t smoke a thing tonight.  I am just so sick.”  And besides, I did not have any  cigarettes left.   And so there I was, at one o’clock in the morning, burning up with fever, coughing and crying; sitting on the floor rummaging through the trash can for the remnants of old nasty cigarettes, lighting them and smoking them.  Not my finest hour.

 

I was a pretty agnostic little thing and rather leaned toward the atheistic side of the spiritual issue, but in that moment I was utterly defeated.  I looked up and said in an unusually clear voice “If there is anything out there, do something to help me.  Because I am totally beaten.”  No there was not a burning bush and the room didn’t light up.  In fact, I lit another coffee stained butt and smoked it and then crawled back to bed.

 

But the next day something totally crazy happened.  I was still sick as a dog, but I had this crystal clear thought that woke me up.  In my little fuzzy head this idea came to me:  ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if you had been smoke free by Halloween.’  That was the most preposterous thing I had ever heard.  But the thought would not leave me…all day!  I argued with myself all day.  No way could I quit anything by then.  It was way too soon.  Well, that pesty thought would not go away.  I even smoked extra cigarettes despite the pneumonia.  ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if you had been smoke free by Halloween.’ Over and over again.   When I woke up at midnight like I always did, I was shocked that my first thought wasn’t where are my cigarettes.  My first thought was ‘wouldn’t it be nice if you had been smoke free by Halloween.’  I sat up and said out loud “Okay already!  I give up!  I’ll do it.  But you better show me how!” 

 

The next day I consulted my friend in a twelve step program and discussed a strategy for quitting by this absurd date.  I got out a calendar and figured out how I could do it by then.  I knew that I was not going to approach this as a way to beat myself up.  I’ve done that enough in my lifetime. I knew people who put rubber bands on their wrists and snapped themselves every time they wanted a cigarette.  Knowing me, I figured I’d find a way to make that a fun thing and I wanted to save my life not make myself more miserable.   So, I told all my friends that I might be just a little wacky for awhile and that I might need their understanding more than usual.  To my surprise, everyone was supportive.  I think now that the poor things were so sick of eating my second hand smoke that they were happy to see me quit.

 

Then I thought about what I was up against.  But, what exactly was I up against?  I really didn’t know a thing about cigarettes.  Now, folks, this was 1985, long before internet research.  So I took myself to the library and researched cigarettes: their history, the chemicals in them, what physical properties in them contributed to my addiction.  Then I looked up reports on big tobacco companies and was shocked at what I found.  By the time I did all my research, I was furious.  I vowed that the day I quit, those companies would never get one more cent from me.  This was before nicotine gum and patches.  But now that I know more about them…well I won’t get into that.  It’s all in the second book of this system.

 

Anyway, I knew I had to do more than just figure out what it was about the cigarettes themselves that got me hooked.  I had to look long and hard at myself.  I looked at a number of self help programs including twelve step formulas and other systems for self improvement and adapted them to cigarette addiction.  Then I got to work.

 

I sort of created the program as I went along and never felt so uncool in all my life.  But, the more I worked on myself the more excited I got about my life.  I knew from my research that water, vitamins and good diet were going to be essential to my recovery.  The chemicals in cigarettes are designed to promote bad diet, sedentary lifestyles and general lack of self care.  As a result, about five days before my stop date, I noticed that I had lost weight.  By that time I didn’t have a lot of weight to lose, but it turned out that during the time I had been working my little system, I had lost ten pounds.  Not bad for a smoke fiend. 

 

My stop day was October 24, 1985.  I had a great day!  I went shopping, to the movies, to dinner with friends, spent the entire day in the company of people.  Chewed on or pretend smoked my straws (you’ll learn about that in the workbook) and went to bed happy as a lark.  I slept through the whole night.  Didn’t wake up at midnight or anything!  On the morning of October 25th, I woke up absolutely hysterical.  This was a bad way to start the day.  Withdrawals were not totally intense, because I had been alternating real cigarettes with my straws for quite a few days.  But, my friend, withdrawals were upon me…and I was not a happy girl.  I made it through the day with my affirmations and all the tools I had acquired in my workbook process.  But, no, it was not an easy day.  I did, however, make it.  On October 26th I was ready to smash something, so I did.  I gathered every empty can I could find and stomped them to smithereens.  Then I felt better.  Day three was unusually calm and actually a lovely day.  I was so relieved.  Day four was okay and day five was even better.  On day six I had some lovely activities planned along with a symphony.  Ah, it was lovely.  This, I thought, is it.  I’ve got it licked.  Well, day seven proved me wrong as I was driving in my car and suddenly enraged.  I pulled over to the side of the road and got out and kicked the tires.  Hurt my toe something awful.  Took my mind off cigarettes for the next three days. 

 

This roller coaster of withdrawals was short lived because I had given myself permission to experience it.  I was not going to try to make the quitting painless.  I knew there would be unpleasantness, but every day of that first two weeks I had a thought that would not leave me: ‘Never again will I go through this.  I will never smoke another cigarette as long as I live because I don’t ever want to go through this again.  Life is too short’.

 

And so life went on and by the end of the second week, it was pretty much over.  I had all my straws and mints and that saved my life.  I lost an additional five pounds because I was exercising and drinking lots of fluids and the vitamin supplements were making me feel so much better. 

 

The next year life and loss happened.  The ebb and flow of life paraded along.  One of my fears had been this: What if something bad happens and I can’t deal with it without a cigarette?  Well, bad stuff did happen, and good stuff happened, and when events came to pass, I dealt with them by using the healthy alternatives I had created in my workbook of recovery.

 

And now twenty years has passed and in that time I’ve helped lots of people who have helped lots of people and I now pass the system on to you.  I am your number one cheerleader and I believe that you can have victory over this affliction.  If you need to talk I or one of my associates will talk to you.  If you need to get help for yourself as you go through the process, get it.  If you need other assistance in addition to this program, by all means go for it.  Do whatever you have to do to beat this.  I will be here to help you if you need it.  The Information Book will, hopefully, wake you up and make you good and motivated to make a change.  The Workbook will hopefully be an exciting journey of self discovery.  I learned so much about myself in that process and redefined my idea of what it is to be cool and what it is to be truly sophisticated. 

 

All my best wishes and congratulations for taking this first step.  The universe has already answered your call for help.  Now, let’s get after it and deal with this.  It’s time to set your date.

 

 

KEEP READING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER IV

SETTING THE DATE

 

Lots of build up to this as if it were just the biggest deal!  Well, it is.  This is not the date that you’re going to shoot for or try to quit on.  This is THE DAY that your new life starts.  None of this ‘well, I’ll try to quit then but I’m not sure that I can make it.’  Huh uh.  This is the day you do it.  Do you hear that; this is the day that you DO IT.

 

SO LOOK LONG AND HARD AT THE CALENDAR AND PICK YOUR DATE

VERY VERY CAREFULLY

 

We want you to give this a great deal of consideration.  Stopping one week before Halloween doesn’t seem like a meaningful date to anyone but me.  Your stop date needs to be a very sentimental and significant date to you.  Maybe it’s your actual birthday, a special day for a child in your life, a parent’s birthday.  Whatever day you pick…tell us.  Shoot us an email at bridge2life@sbcglobal.net and tell us the date you picked and why.  We won’t hold you to it and hassle you with email reminders.  We won’t have to.  Because you will have given this so much thought that the decision will be yours.  Besides, you’re old enough to hold yourself accountable.  We aren’t your parents.  We’re your number one fans.

 

 Listen to some meditation music and study the calendar and then pick your date.  There is no rush about this.  It is the most important decision you have to make.  Give it lots of thought.  Pray about it if that’s your thing.  Talk to your doctor about it, your therapist, your family and friends.  But whatever day you pick…that’s it.  That is THE DAY and there is no backing off that date and changing your mind.  So take your time and then send us an email and tell us what you decide. 

 

OKAY THAT’S IT

 

THE COMMITMENT IS MADE

 

CONGRATULATIONS

 

AND WELCOME

TO YOUR NEW LIFE