Re: Waiting for the other shoe to drop-Dave

[Guest guest]

Dave,

I think the inhaler is great for those who are willing to not sneak

smokes. For me, it has been a life-saver and I don't understand why

they don't market it more.

Many criticise the inhaler, saying it is too much like smoking. I

say, who cares, it works for me. I could care less if I have to chew

nic gum and use the inhaler for the rest of my life, it beats smoking

ciggarettes, cigars anything by a long shot.

Thanks for asking.

CAG

> > Good evening or morning,

> >

> > I wanted to share a recent experience with just how insidious

> the

> > hand of the 12 steps extends itself.

> >

> > I quit smoking ciggarettes a year ago and after about a month,

> > decided to get into cigars. I justified this by thinking that

> > smoking a cigar would be sexy and add to the mystery that is

> me. It

> > didn't take long to discover that I hate cigars. One day while

in

> > the cigar store, my buddy turned me on to Clove Ciggarettes.

> Those

> > things are like smoking candy, I loved them. I was soon up to

> almost

> > a pack a day and smoked those things up to about a month

> ago.

> >

> > I quit smoking a month ago with the assistance of a subliminal

> tape,

> > nic gum and the nic inhaler. I have been doing very well. Over

> the

> > years, I tried to apply the 12 steps and all the jargon to

> smoking to

> > no avail. I always felt like I was a victim to smoking and that

it

> > was God's will if I was to stay quit or not. Since

> deprogramming

> > from the 12 steps, etc, I know know that this time, I can remain

> a

> > non-smoker if I just CHOOSE NOT TO SMOKE, period. I don't

> look at it

> > like one day at a time either, I never want to smoke again and I

> am

> > thinking of myself as a non-smoker, not a recovering smoker,

> > recovered smoker or a smokalholic.

> >

> > I joined a couple of online groups for quitting to gain the

> insights

> > of others. When I joined one of the private groups, I had to

post

> my

> > e-mail address every time I posted. I posted one time and

> some guy

> > wrote to me and invited me to join a 12 step quit smoking

> group. In

> > the past, I would have asked, when, where, how, now. This

> time, I

> > found this offer offensive. I found it offensive because I am so

> > sick and tired of seeing so many 12 step groups for everything

> and

> > everyone.

> >

> > I wrote the guy back and said that I was going to use my own

> > WILLPOWER, thank you and added that I had allot of

> experience with

> > the 12 step thinking and I no longer bought into it. He never

> wrote

> > me back and most likely prayed for my soul.

> >

> > I realized that the entire time I believed in the program, I was

> > always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I believed that I

didn't

> > have any control over anything and that WILLPOWER was a

> dirty word.

> > For so many years, I gave up my personal power and it's nice

> to be

> > learning that I do have personal power.

> >

> > Life is usually about actions and consequences, pretty simple.

> In

> > the case of smoking, if I pick up anything to smoke it, I will be

a

> > smoker again. If I don't smoke anything, I will be a nonsmoker.

> >

> > This might sound simple to you guys but for me, it's a revelatio,

> a

> > wonderful one.

> >

> > Thank you all for helping me to think for myself. I feel like

the

> > scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, I had a brain all along.

> >

> > CAG