Post by judyb on Apr 6, 2018 22:08:31 GMT -5
DAY 21
Nicotine Anonymous is a fast-spreading program. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, it is based on twelve
steps, it has no dues or fees, and meetings are run by unpaid members. Sabrina P. has been
attending meetings weekly for the two years since she stopped smoking.
"I'd tried everything by the time I got to Nic Anon. The support and awareness I found there are the
reasons I'm not smoking today. I had to realize that I'm an addict. That's the baseline. People at
meetings said, "Don't listen to your brain, except for entertainment, because it's addicted." I had
been smoking two packs a day for thirty years. Who knew what this person was like without a drug?
"Cigarettes had been my high power. They regulated my life. I preferred smoking to sex. When I
smoked, I never felt alone because I had my cigarettes. When I put my cigarettes down I couldn't
stand the gaping hole inside. I felt I was one of those smokers who would smoke through the hole
after a tracheotomy. It's a miracle that I stopped. I prayed, I worked in my garden for six hours
nonstop, I stood in my living room and screamed. People at meetings would say that if you're going to
stop smoking you have to be prepared to change your life. I was and I did. I'm not just healthier. I'm
calmer, I have self-esteem, and my relationships are far better. Smoking kept me shame-based, a
word I picked up from John Bradshaw. I'm not shame-based anymore."
From: www.amazon.com/Meditations-Surviving-Without-Cigarettes-Wanning/dp/0380769166
Nicotine Anonymous is a fast-spreading program. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, it is based on twelve
steps, it has no dues or fees, and meetings are run by unpaid members. Sabrina P. has been
attending meetings weekly for the two years since she stopped smoking.
"I'd tried everything by the time I got to Nic Anon. The support and awareness I found there are the
reasons I'm not smoking today. I had to realize that I'm an addict. That's the baseline. People at
meetings said, "Don't listen to your brain, except for entertainment, because it's addicted." I had
been smoking two packs a day for thirty years. Who knew what this person was like without a drug?
"Cigarettes had been my high power. They regulated my life. I preferred smoking to sex. When I
smoked, I never felt alone because I had my cigarettes. When I put my cigarettes down I couldn't
stand the gaping hole inside. I felt I was one of those smokers who would smoke through the hole
after a tracheotomy. It's a miracle that I stopped. I prayed, I worked in my garden for six hours
nonstop, I stood in my living room and screamed. People at meetings would say that if you're going to
stop smoking you have to be prepared to change your life. I was and I did. I'm not just healthier. I'm
calmer, I have self-esteem, and my relationships are far better. Smoking kept me shame-based, a
word I picked up from John Bradshaw. I'm not shame-based anymore."
From: www.amazon.com/Meditations-Surviving-Without-Cigarettes-Wanning/dp/0380769166