INTRODUCTION
This is the recovery system I put together in 1985, when I quit. I was agnostic at best and cynical at the very least, and I didn’t have a clue what to do. So I created this and, as I started working with others, finished it in this form. So it’s tried and true and has helped hundreds of people.
I don’t need to go into a great deal of instruction here. You are brilliant and fabulous and have already learned more than you ever wanted to about this disease. But we will be referring to the straw/mint thing and we’d like to tell you what that’s all about. You have some straws here in the length of a cigarette and some mints. Chew the mints and suck on the straws as a replacement for cigarettes. When? Just follow the instructions and you’ll know when. I “smoked” straws and mints after I quit for about a month. I thought surely that people would point and stare, but to my surprise I discovered that folks are so busy with the affairs of their own lives that they didn’t even notice me! Actually that kind of offended me, because it is all about me…but that’s another story. So follow these instructions to the letter and it will happen for you.
NOW I want to make it crystal clear that if this process takes you longer than two weeks, that is just fine.
I charted this out on the time table that I followed and that many of the people I have helped followed. But other people need longer than that, and it’s okay. You do what you need to do when you need to do it. I firmly believe that the universe responds to your slightest invitation and that this will work for you.
So let’s get started…
PHASE ONE
AWARENESS
REPEAT A ZILLION TIMES A DAY “THANK YOU GOD! I’M SO GLAD THAT I’M A NON SMOKER”. SAY IT ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE SMOKING. AND SAY IT FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS!
STEP ONE: GET A PRETTY NOTEBOOK. THIS WILL BE YOUR JOURNAL.
YES, YOU WILL BE HAND-WRITING. I KNOW, BUT IT’S FUN. I KNOW. BUT GET A PRETTY INK PEN OR OLD SCHOOL PENCIL AND SIT DOWN WITH YOUR JOURNAL TO COMPLETE THESE EXERCISES.
TASKS FOR DAYS 1 & 2
WRITE A BRIEF HISTORY OF YOUR SMOKING IN THE JOURNAL SPACE BELOW. HIT THE HIGH POINTS LIKE WHEN IT MADE YOU FEEL WONDERFUL AND WHEN IT MADE YOU FEEL LOUSY. AT LEAST TEN KEY OCCASIONS. THE MORE THE BETTER.
CALUCULATE THE FOLLOWING AND ADD IT TO THE JOURNAL:
• HOW MANY TOTAL CIGARETTES HAVE YOU SMOKED
• HOW MUCH HAVE YOU SPENT TOTAL ON CIGARETTES
• CALCULATE HOW MUCH CIGARETTES HAVE COST YOU IN
BURNED CLOTHES, RELATED ILLNESS, CLEANING
BILLS, BURNED CAR SEATS, THAT KIND OF THING
TELL 2 PEOPLE A DAY FOR THE NEXT 14 DAYS HOW EXCITED YOU ARE THAT CIGARETTES DAYS ARE NUMBERED AND THAT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE VICTORY OVER THIS. SMOKING CHEMICAL INFESTED LEAVES WILL NOT BE THE THING THAT DOES YOU IN.
READ ALL THE ATTACHED ARTICLES AND HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANT THINGS.
LIST 10 THINGS YOU ASSOCIATE WITH NON SMOKING – I.E. BREATHING MOUNTAIN AIR WITHOUT COUGHING, HIKING WITHOUT BECOMING WINDED, THE SMELL OF A FRAGRANT HOUSE ETC.
CONSCIOUSLY DRINK 8 PURPOSEFUL GLASSES OF WATER A DAY
LIST 10 PLACES YOU ASSOCIATE WITH NON SMOKING: YOSEMITE, A MUSEUM…WHATEVER
SMOKE AS USUAL.
JOURNAL FOR DAYS 1 AND 2
TASKS FOR DAYS 3 & 4
FILL OUT THIS CHART WITH AT LEAST 20 ITEMS EACH. MORE ARE BETTER
1) EVERY EXCUSE YOU HAVE EVER HAD FOR NOT QUITTING. For example, I’m sure I would gain a bunch of weight.
2) FOR EACH OF THOSE EXCUSES, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THAT IF YOU WERE A NON-SMOKER? For example, maybe, but you’ll be drinking more water, and that will help clear out the toxins and that also flushes out unwanted fat cells.
Here was mine: If I quit smoking, my nerves will be shot, and I might start drinking again.
My answer to that was, well, I guess I will have to gather sober people around and tell them what I’m doing and ask for their support. And I guess I’ll have to step up meetings or whatever I’m doing to stay sober. And, I’ll run this past my doctors who know that I am sober as well.
PHASE TWO
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
TASKS FOR DAYS 5 & 6
Okay, let’s just deal with this once and for all. In the course of working this system we hope that you have learned (and since you are perfectly competent and intelligent, we’re certain that you have) that your self will has gotten you…well it’s gotten you here.
And that’s a good thing. We have all wanted so badly to believe that we had it all under control. That pride is a stickler isn’t it? We wanted to think that we had a choice and nobody could take that away from us. Nobody! But here we are!
So, at this point, let’s try a new tactic just for grins. If you already have a concept of power greater than you, that created you and the entire universe, then skip right on to the essay and ask your creator what is about you that is keeping you from allowing that creator to heal you. For those who are skeptics, please ponder this:
Is this your theory?
The origin of the Universe is unknown — it is the ultimate mystery of this whole story. The laws of physics which applied in the beginning are not clear, so it is hard to guess where the universe might have come from. There are several theories of how the Universe began. This web site follows the inflationary theory of creation, which seems the most plausible.
We use the word Macrocosmos to mean “everything there is”. We will see that the Cosmos and the Universe are just small parts of the Macrocosmos. So how could it have begun?
Perhaps it was created out of nothing. To us, used to the idea that energy cannot be created, this seems impossible, but even today we find two kinds of matter (matter and antimatter) being created together out of nothing in quantum fluctuations. What is more, gravitational energy is equal and opposite to the matter energy in a closed space. This means that starting from nothing, gravity and matter might have separated to create the Macrocosmos.
The amounts of energy in the Macrocosmos were small. The inflation theory predicts the Universe began with only 25g of matter! However this matter was crammed into a very very tiny space, creating an extremely high energy density.
About 300 thousand years after the Big Bang, the Universe had cooled enough for electrons to be captured by protons and alpha particles to form atoms.
An electron is pulled towards a proton because their opposite electric charges attract each other. They stick together to form a totally new kind of object called an atom of hydrogen. In the same way two electrons were attracted to each alpha particle, which contained two protons, and were held close to it. The atom they made is called a helium atom.
Atoms are fantastic things. Around the outside of the atom the electron forms a large thin shell. Inside the atom is empty space, except for the tiny heavy proton at the center. An atom is like a football.
The electron in an atom is like the skin of the football. Under this skin the atom is almost empty. At the center is something a football doesn’t have. Held at the center by the electric force is the tiny proton. This is called the nucleus of the atom. The young Universe was full of hot atoms, moving around and bouncing off each other. They made a gas.
Once all the electrons were atoms trapped in atoms, the fog of the Universe cleared.
A galaxy is an island of billions of stars, separated from other galaxies by a vast ocean of almost empty space. In this story we look at one particular galaxy (the Milky Way), since that is the one we know best, the one where we live. But we should not forget that, scattered far and wide across the Universe, there are billions of other galaxies, probably very similar to ours.
Galaxies are either spiral (about 70% of galaxies – similar to the Milky Way) or elliptical (about 30%). A few are other shapes. It is not clear how the different shapes arose. Spirals are probably more interesting than ellipticals, since stars are formed continuously in them. It is probably this which has allowed life to form in the spiral galaxy where we live.
After a while the stars formed in an open star cluster drift apart, probably pulled by the attraction of passing stars. Let’s focus down on one star and see how it works.
A star (such as the Sun) is a ball of gas which has, at its heart, a nuclear fusion reactor. It is important to know something about how stars work, for several reasons.
• One star, the Sun, is the source of almost all the energy used by living things, including humans. We could not survive without it.
• If we could copy the Sun in a small and controlled way, we believe we could obtain a great deal of energy on Earth without creating a lot of pollution.
• Stars are the places where large atoms are built. Past generations of stars formed the gas and dust from which the planets and life were made.
So stars play a key part in our story.
We have seen that a small red giant, up to 1.5 times the size of the Sun, turns into a white dwarf when it dies. Larger red giants, however, die in a more spectacular way.
Once the nuclear fuel is exhausted in a red giant, the core starts to cool and the internal pressure falls, leading to contraction. In large red giants this is a sudden and catastrophic event so that the star collapses. As the outer layers of the star fall they gain heat. This triggers nuclear fusion in these outer layers and they explode in a spectacular explosion called a supernova, becoming for a few days brighter than a whole galaxy.
With so much energy it is possible to fuse iron nuclei into even heavier ones such as uranium nuclei. As the star explodes it throws out the nuclei which it has made. On their way out they pick up electrons and become atoms. The helium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, iron, uranium and other heavy atoms made by the star are scattered back to dust in the disc of the galaxy. In this way the atoms made in one generation of stars are passed on to be used by the next.
So all the atoms in your body (except hydrogen) were made in a supernova 5 billion years or more ago.
What happens next depends on the size of the original star.
The first cells appeared on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago. These early cells were very similar to the simplest cells we find on Earth today, called bacteria (sometimes called germs). Note that one of these is called a bacterium. Later bacteria evolved many new features. For example bacteria could swim. They used a long twisted whip-like tail called a flagellum fixed to a wonderful tiny rotating motor. This made the flagellum twist round and so pushed or pulled the bacterium along!
Bacteria have only one cell each. They can be round (coccus), rodlike (bacillus), or curved (vibrio, spirillum, or spirochete). Bacteria live almost everywhere on Earth, including the soil, water, organic matter, and the bodies of multicellular animals (eukaryotes). Some bacteria benefit humans and other plants and animals. Others are harmful; bacteria are the chief cause of infectious diseases in humans.
Bacteria differ from more advanced cells such of those found in animals and plants because they have no membrane around their nucleus nor any organelles. Simple cells like this are called prokaryotes. Bacteria make up the group which biologists call monera.
Life is a chemical system involving two types of molecules, proteins and nucleic acids, working together in a very special way. First we will look at these two types of molecule in turn. Next we will look at how they work together to make life. Then, when we know a little about what life is, we will think about how this beautiful chemistry might have started.
the Earth. Notice from our diagram and model of the solar system how small it is compared to the Sun and the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. If we didn’t live here we probably wouldn’t even notice it!
Yet there is a very good reason why we should look at this planet and no other. The Earth is the only planet on which water forms a liquid, which is essential for life. The reason has to do with its distance from the Sun. A planet further from the Sun, like Mars, is so cold that water freezes into ice. Closer to the Sun, like Venus, water boils and all the molecules fly apart. Only on the Earth can water form that marvelous substance, liquid water. The Earth, like most of the other planets in the Solar System, has an almost perfectly circular orbit. This is unusual. In most of the other planetary systems studied the planets have oval (elliptical) orbits. If the Earth had an oval orbit, travelling sometimes near to the Sun and sometimes far from it, life could not have evolved on the planet. At times the oceans would have boiled and at times they would have frozen, and life as we know it would have been difficult if not impossible.
Because they were made from a spinning disc, all planets spin like tops and they orbit (go round) the Sun. The Earth spins once a day and orbits once a year. The points which the Earth spins round are called the north and south poles.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun.
Planets are lumps of gas and rock held close to a star by the force of gravity. We live on planet Earth going round star Sun, along with eight other planets. Together these are called the solar system.
Because stars form in dark clouds of dust and molecules in open star clusters, it is difficult to watch them form. So the story of how planets formed which we have just given has not been confirmed by observation.
About 20 planets have been discovered near Sun-like stars, although they are hard to see. Looking for planets near a star is a bit like trying to watch a moth flying around a spotlight which is pointing at you — you get dazzled by the light. See the article Giant Planets Orbiting Faraway Stars for an explanation of how they are found.
Since discs of gas and dust have been detected around some young stars, we guess that planets might be common. But none of the planets so far discovered are like our Solar System. Indeed these discoveries are challenging current theories of the origin of planets.
If planets like ours are common, then life too could be common in the Galaxy.
Molecules are groups of atoms held together with covalent bonds. Molecules play a major part in this story.
The first molecules were formed in space. Some atoms which came out of a supernova were too light, and so moved too fast, to glue together with ionic bonds. They traveled out of the star until they were cool enough to attach to a dust grain. There these light atoms met and join together with a new type of bond called a covalent bond.
Molecules are the building blocks of life, made mostly of the atoms hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon.
The shell model of the atom explains what molecules can be formed by which atoms.
In molecular clouds in the Galaxy we can identify many of the molecules which life uses: methane, ammonia, water and formaldehyde have been identified. Amino acids, purines, and pyrimidines are possibly out there too, all forming on dust grains and eventually getting frozen into comets. This means that the raw materials of life are common in the Universe. Is life common too?
Some people find it hard to accept that humans have evolved from animals. Yet there are many facts leading to that idea. Human cells are eukaryotic, the same as animal cells. Our chromosomes and genes are almost identical to some of the apes. So are our tissues and organs. Fossil bones have been found, showing how people evolved.
The main difference between people and other animals is their ability to think, which comes from the large size of their brain, and their use of language.
Modern people (Homo Sapiens) seem to have evolved in Africa about 100 thousand years ago (although the date is far from clear) and lived there while the Neanderthals were spreading around the world.
An interglacial (warm period) began 35 thousand years ago. Then modern people came out of Africa and spread. Within a few thousand years they replaced the Neanderthals in Europe and Asia. Then about 25 thousand years ago the weather turned cold again and a glacial began. During the glacial, people improved the tools used by Neanderthals, developing specialized tools for different jobs.
But the thing which really set them apart from Neanderthals was their use of art and decoration. Cave paintings, beads, clay statuettes, carvings on the handles of tools, all show a more developed sense of art than Neanderthals ever did.
Many animals were hunted to extinction and people spread around the world.
The weather turned warm 11 thousand years ago and the present interglacial began. Many of the glaciers melted, it rained heavily, and the oceans rose 100 meters. New animals and plants replaced the old. People took up two different ways of life: Nomads and farmers.
Improvements in reproduction were happening in the vertebrate world too. Instead of laying their eggs, female mammals kept them inside their bodies while they developed. In this way they protected their young, feeding them and giving them oxygen. The young could develop larger brains and more advanced bodies than any reptile.
After birth the young were looked after by their mothers, who fed them a rich food called milk. Mammals were the only animals able to make this wonderful food. Then began a long period of care and training when the young learnt from their parents.
Unlike dinosaurs, who probably needed the Sun’s heat to keep them warm, the mammals had fur to keep them warm. They also had a better blood system.
Soon a group of vertebrates called reptiles solved the problem of how to reproduce without water, and they did it in exactly the same way, as the insects. Fertilization occurred before the eggs were laid, by the male injecting sperm into the female’s body.
She used it to fertilize her eggs which she then covered with a tough water-proof skin and laid on land. No surface water was needed for reproduction.
Reptiles had scaly skin. They probably could not keep themselves warm when the weather was cold or at night-time, and may have become slow and sleepy at these times, although there is some debate about this.
OKAY LET’S SAY YOU’RE RIGHT
ABOUT THE WHOLE THING
BIG BANG AND ALL
YOU ARE 100% CORRECT!!
We just have one teeny little question…
Where did the 25g of matter come from?
Now, since you’ve tried absolutely everything else, why not ponder this
OTHER OPTION
Now, come on. We listened to your theory and studied it at great length. So be open minded (you promised) and just consider this.
An entity, a creative force if you will, created energy. From there, any theory you want to subscribe to the creation of the human race will do. But, it seems only logical that this creative life force had to be beneficent. Otherwise, none of us would be here because plagues, war, pestilence and face lifts gone wrong would have done us in centuries ago.
Some force has, from time to time, intervened to insure the propagation of the species. Whatever force you want to call it is fine, but you do have to admit that, given the ingredients in a cigarette, we should all be dead by now from our own smoking or all the poisonous gas in the air. In any case, ponder this and write about it in the essay. Because that entity has kept me away from smoking for a long long time and it can do the same for you. At least think about it and write about it. And, if you get excited, study about it.
NOW FOR YOUR ESSAY
TAKE YOUR TIME ON THIS, YOU HAVE TWO DAYS
TOPIC: YOUR CREATOR IS EVERYTHING; OR YOUR CREATOR IS NOTHING. DISCUSS
I know, but nobody is grading this. Nobody will mark sentence fragments or word choices. You cannot flunk this essay.
NOW, JUST FOR GRINS
ASK THIS POWER TO HELP SAVE YOUR LIFE BY TAKING AWAY THIS OBSESSION
TASK FOR DAY 7
Today is a day of rest!!! Think about all the things you’ve read and learned so far and take a nice break. Do one of the activities you listed in your Day 1 and 2 journal and have a lovely day. Do one thing for us today.
Alternate cigarettes with straws. That is, smoke a cigarette and then the next time you want to smoke, suck or chew on one of the straws and a mint.
Just that one thing today.
That’s all.
Otherwise, have yourself a great day!
In fact, journal all about your great day. Write down everything about your day.
Make it a special memory.
JOURNAL FOR DAY 7
PHASE THREE
ACCOUNTABILITY
TASKS FOR DAYS 8 & 9
WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT, YOUR BIGGEST RESENTMENT IS CONTAINED IN THE INFORMATION IN THE LAST CHAPTER OF BOOK TWO. READ THAT CHAPTER BEFORE YOU WRITE YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THIS.
IF ANYONE INFLUENCED YOU TO SMOKE, WRITE ABOUT THAT.
IF YOU INFLUENCED ANYONE TO SMOKE, WRITE ABOUT THAT.
DID YOU EVER BREAK ANY LAWS TO SMOKE…LIKE IN ILLEGAL AREAS OR OTHER FORBIDDEN LOCATIONS? STEAL ANY CIGGIES?
BE COMPLETELY THOROUGH ABOUT THIS. YOU HAVE TWO DAYS AND LOTS OF SPACE TO WRITE IT ALL OUT
TODAY YOU SMOKE ONE CIGARETTE AND THEN TWO STRAWS AND MINTS. (I KNOW YOU HATE THIS, BUT IT’S GONNA MAKE THE WITHDRAWALS GO SO MUCH QUICKER). DRINK A QUART OF WATER A DAY (WE’RE GETTING ALL THOSE NASTY CHEMICALS FLUSHED OUT!)
JOURNAL FOR DAYS 8 & 9
PHASE FOUR
ACTION
TASK FOR DAY 10
SHARE EVERYTHING YOU WROTE ON DAYS 8 AND 9 WITH SOMEONE. YOU CAN JUST READ THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT TO THEM AND THAT’S FINE. IT CAN BE ANYONE YOU TRUST. DO THIS WITH ANYONE YOU LIKE. IF YOU’RE IN A TWELVE STEP PROGRAM, MAYBE YOU WANT TO SHARE THIS WITH YOUR SPONSOR, A MEMBER OF THE CLERGY IS FINE. A NON-JUDGMENTAL PERSON.
ON THIS DAY YOU CAN CHEW OR SUCK ON ONE STRAW FOR EACH CIGARETTE IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. I KNOW THIS IS GOING TO RATTLE YOUR NERVES AND IF YOU NEED TO SMOKE ACTUAL CIGARETTES TO GET THE TASK DONE, SO BE IT. OF COURSE I’D PREFER IT IF YOU KEPT IT AT A 3 TO 1 RATION BUT, HEY, I’VE BEEN THERE. THIS ISN’T EASY OR PLEASANT AND I DON’T WANT YOU TO TOPPL
TASK FOR DAY 11
TODAY BEGINS FOUR TO ONE! FOUR STRAWS AND MINTS FOR EVERY CIGARETTE. YOU CAN CHEAT ON THIS AND ONLY YOU WILL KNOW.
BUT WE’RE TRYING TO MAKE YOUR QUIT DAY EASIER. TRUST US. DRINK A QUART OF WATER AND ASK THIS CREATIVE FORCE THAT WANTS YOU TO LIVE TO HELP YOU!
CALL ANYBODY IF YOU NEED THEM. WE KNOW THIS SUCKS. WE TOTALLY DO. BUT YOU ARE ALREADY A NON-SMOKER. THIS IS JUST SEALING THE DEAL.
LIST THE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS THAT WERE UNDER THE SMOKING.
(ONE OF OURS WAS THAT I NEEDED SO DESPERATELY TO FEEL COOL BECAUSE I FELT SO INADEQUATE AND UNAUTHENTIC. CIGARETTES GAVE ME THE ILLUSION OF COOL.)
THEN GO ON TO WRITE ABOUT THE FEELINGS YOU HAD ABOUT SHARING YOUR ACCOUNTABILITY WRITING WITH SOMEONE. NO ONE BUT YOU WILL EVER SEE THE WORK YOU DO TODAY. THIS IS YOUR PRIVATE JOURNAL ENTRY AND IT IS NOT FOR ANYONE’S EYES BUT YOURS. CALL SOMEONE IF YOU NEED TO BY ALL MEANS, BUT THIS IS YOUR PRIVATE BUSINESS.
JOURNAL FOR DAY 11 – GETTING UNDER THE SMOKE
TASKS FOR DAY 12
THAT’S RIGHT. YOU PROBABLY ALREADY GUESSED IT. IT’S FIVE TO ONE DAY. HEY, YOU MADE IT THROUGH FOUR TO ONE DAY WITH NO PROBLEM. THIS IS JUST ONE MORE STRAW. YOU CAN DO THIS. CALL FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT. JUST GET THROUGH THIS DAY. IT’S A PLEASANT DAY!
GO TO ONE OF THE HEALTHY LOCATIONS YOU LISTED IN STEP ONE AND TALK TO WHATEVER LIFE FORCE YOU’VE DECIDED ON. HECK WE DON’T CARE IF YOU TALK TO THE BIG BANG. JUST TALK TO AN ENERGY SOURCE ABOUT THIS. OUT OF RESPECT FOR THAT POWER, DON’T SMOKE DURING THIS CONVERSATION. SMOKE, OF COURSE, BEFORE OR AFTER, BUT NOT DURING THE MEDITATION PROCESS.
NOW WRITE IN THIS JOURNAL WHAT YOU THINK YOUR LIFE WILL BE LIKE AS A NON SMOKER. USE YOUR IMAGINATION AND HAVE FUN WITH THIS.
JOURNAL FOR DAY 12 – NOW THAT I’M A NON SMOKER, THIS IS WHAT MY LIFE IS LIKE!
PHASE FOUR
RECOVERY
FREE AT LAST
TASKS FOR DAY 13
THAT’S RIGHT…YOU GUESSED IT. IT’S SEVEN TO ONE DAY. SEVEN STRAWS AND MINTS FOR EVERY CIGARETTE SMOKED. YOU’LL THANK US…YOU’LL SEE.
AMENDS LIST
LIST THE NAMES OF ANYONE WHO HAD TO EAT YOUR SECOND-HAND SMOKE. I KNOW IT’S A LOT OF PEOPLE, BUT IT’S JUST A LIST.
LIST ANYBODY YOU MIGHT HAVE STOLEN CIGARETTES FROM…AGAIN, JUST A LIST
TAKE THIS LIST TO ANOTHER ONE OF THE HEALTHY SPOTS YOU LISTED AND GO OVER THIS LIST WITH YOUR CREATOR. IF YOU ARE SINCERE, TELL THAT LIFE SOURCE THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO MAKE DIRECT APOLOGIES TO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE IF NECESSARY. UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR BIGGEST AMENDS TO ALL OF US ON THE PLANET WILL BE YOUR CESSATION OF SMOKING.
JOURNAL FOR DAY 13 – AMENDS LIST
THEN
MAKE A PLAN TO PAY BACK ANY FINANCIAL AMENDS.
BURN THE LIST OF NAMES. IF YOUR CREATOR WANTS YOU TO MAKE AMENDS TO ANY OF THEM.
BELIEVE ME, THEY WILL BE BROUGHT TO YOU. YOU DON’T HAVE TO SEEK ANYONE OUT. BUT YOU CAN IF YOU WANT TO. IT’S A NICE IDEA TO CHAT WITH THE FOLKS CLOSEST TO YOU ON THE DAY BEFORE YOU QUIT FOR GOOD…ONCE AND FOR ALL. WE WOULD BE VERY IMPRESSED IF YOU DID THAT TODAY. AND IF YOU DO HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DO THAT TODAY, WRITE ABOUT IT IN YOUR JOURNAL.
DAY 14
THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!
THIS IS THE DAY! YOU WILL HAVE EVERY MINUTE OF THIS DAY PLANNED WITH SOME WORK, SOME STUDY, SOME FUN, SOME PRAYER, A LITTLE MEDITATION, A MEETING, DINNER WITH FRIENDS, A MOVIE…WHATEVER.
BUT YOU AREN’T ALONE FOR A SINGLE MINUTE FOR THIS DAY.
YOU CAN SMOKE AS MANY STRAW/MINTS AS YOU WANT.
CLEAN YOUR HOUSE
AND AFTER THIS DAY WHAT DO YOU DO?
DAY TWO OF NON-SMOKING! REPEAT DAY ONE…
DAY THREE OF NON-SMOKING! REPEAT DAY TWO…ADD MORE WATER AND SOME NICE EXERCISE
DAY FOUR OF NON-SMOKING! SHOPPING DAY. BUY YOURSELF A TREAT
DAY FIVE OF NON-SMOKING! CAN YOU BE BY YOURSELF YET? IF SO, GREAT. IF NOT, HANG WITH SOMEONE AS MUCH AS NEEDED (DON’T BE A HERO…IT WON’T WORK)
DAY SIX OF NON-SMOKING! YOU MIGHT FEEL A WEE BIT TESTY TODAY. CHANNEL THIS ANGER IN A POSITIVE WAY BY RUNNING, A PUNCHING BAG, SWIMMING. KNOW IT’S TOTALLY TEMPORARY AND GET THE ANGER UP AND OUT OF YOU. DON’T LET IT FESTER FOR A SINGLE MINUTE.
DAY SEVEN OF NON-SMOKING! REST. SMOKE LOTS OF STRAW/MINTS AND BE TOTALLY GRATEFUL TO GOD THAT ALL THE MAJOR POISONS ARE NOW OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM. SOON YOUR BODY WILL START TO REJUVENATE.
WEEK TWO
REPEAT ANY OF WEEK ONE YOU NEED TO
WEEK THREE
HUMP WEEK. ONCE YOU PASS THIS WEEK, IT’S CLEAR SAILING. HAVE LOTS OF ACTIVITIES READY FOR THIS WEEK. REFER TO THE LIST OF 50 THINGS YOU MADE IN STEP TWO
WEEK FOUR
THIS IS THE LAST WEEK OF WITHDRAWAL. AFTER THIS YOU ARE AN OFFICIAL NON SMOKER. CELEBRATE WITH A LITTLE TRIP IF YOU CAN. EVEN A SHORT DAY TRIP TO SOMEWHERE PRETTY IS FINE. REALLY…SERIOUSLY…CELEBRATE THIS IN A MEANINGFUL WAY
THE NEXT TWO MONTHS SHOULD BE GOOD ONES. CONTINUE TO SMOKE ALL THE STRAW/MINTS YOU NEED TO. NO LIMIT.
MONTH THREE – FOR MANY PEOPLE THIS IS A BIT OF A CHALLENGE. THIS MONTH, SO MUCH OF YOUR PHYSICAL HEALING MIGHT MAKE YOU FEEL EDGY AND MAYBE EVEN FLUISH. THAT IS ONLY BECAUSE YOU ARE HEALING AND SOME OF THOSE PESTY TOXINS ARE GETTING OUT OF YOU AND YOUR LUNGS ARE TRYING TO CLEAR OUT THE TAR AND NICOTINE THAT HAVE BEEN IN THERE FOR SO LONG. JUST DRINK LOTS OF WATER AND STAY CLOSE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR ADVOCATES.
MONTH SIX – SOME PEOPLE START TO TALK THEMSELVES OUT OF RECOVERY AT THIS POINT THINKING THAT THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO HANDLE JUST ONE OR TWO. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S UP WITH THIS, BUT IT HAPPENS TO A LOT OF US. JUST THANK THAT LITTLE VOICE OF TEMPTATION FOR SHARING AND SMOKE SOME STRAW/MINTS AND GO TO A MOVIE.
MONTH NINE – MOST OF US REALLY FEEL HAPPY DURING THIS MONTH. SO MUCH HEALING HAS BEEN DONE, MOST OF THE NINTH STEP IS CLEARED UP AND ASIDE FROM BEING UPSET AT SMOKERS AROUND US, WE ARE PRETTY AGREEABLE. REALLY ENJOY THIS.
YEAR – IT’S EXCITING AND WONDERFUL AND YET, IT CAN BE A TIME TO BE TEMPTED TO REST ON YOUR LAURELS. KEEP UP THE DAILY JOURNAL IF ONLY TO WRITE THE THANK YOU TO GOD. REALLY CELEBRATE THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT.
And that’s it. It’s just that simple. I know you may not feel like jumping to the sky and shouting for joy, but you will. I promise you will. My very best wishes for your success.