Cravings - love hate relationship

[nsd_user663_54958]

I have just realised that I actually love my cravings... well, used to anyway. Whenever I had a craving I could keep it alive, think about the next cig, plan when I will have it, make a cup of coffee to enforce it etc. There was nothing better than really grow the crave and then go for a fag... ah what a bliss. Now, the knowledge that I can not smoke makes me irritable and hate the craving... but somewhere inside me a little monster keeps turning the feeling into secretly loving it again now and then. Hard to explain this one but its a bit weird I suppose what I am trying to say is that its difficult to just forget "him" - change something I used to love into nothingness as even hate is wasted energy.

Am I making any sense :eek:

Roosa.

[nsd_user663_52845]

Hi Roosa

Perfect sense to me

Not too sure about the growing the crave when you did smoke...I would probably just have had about 3 fags instead while waiting for the one I wanted!

As you said in a previous post, we spent years and years doing the same thing time after time every day, so forgetting about it isn't going to happen in a heartbeat. Which, in the scheme of things, is about as long as we have been quit...a heartbeat.

Learning to love your craves can be a very effective way of beating this thing. I read something on another site somewhere that made so much sense to me.

It said let your craves in fully.

Try to detach yourself from them, look at them from "the outside" ...rather than being slap bang in the middle of them.

Try to see them for exactly what they are. The phrase they used, which to me makes sense was:

What resists, persists.

So the more we examine them precisely the less power they have over us.

What you are doing all sounds good to me

Keep it up and stay strong

Take care

Greg

[nsd_user663_54332]

You make complete sense Roosa, it's funny 'cos I was thinking something a bit like that before I logged in *Twilight Zone music*

Didn't used to try to make my craves bigger when I smoked, but did *really* "enjoy" having a fag, more often two :eek: when I was gasping for one.

Except (and this is how I'm getting through it) I didn't *enjoy* the smoke - what I enjoyed was shutting up the crave and yes that did feel flipping good *but* it was only for around an hour until I "needed" another fag and so on and so on.

Have to be honest and say I do still miss smoking - am sure most people here do 'cos we did it for years - but am not going to be starting again 'cos there's so many positives for being a non-smoker and it's only the imp shouting "I want a fag" that's a negative.

[nsd_user663_54958]

Really, am I the only one who looved to torture my self by "growing" the crave? Imagine this, I spent a whole year travelling and having this rule where I would smoke only in the evenings... and my god that first one of the day was good

But then again, I spent many miserable moments during the day waiting for that moment

This is awesome "What resists, persists." I hope you dont mind if I steal that for my signature?

Roosa.

[nsd_user663_52845]

You got this thing Roosa

Keep going towards the light ... it's that way look :cool:

[nsd_user663_54332]

Well said Gemma-bit alarmed there when you said you still miss smoking :eek:

Like a hole in the head,do I miss stinking, and depending on some toxic smoke.

Ooh heck, I probably didn't explain it right!!

I don't miss that at all - it's just that I suppose I've trained my mind to think that a fag fixes or makes everything better, and that's hard to unlearn!!

Really don't intend to start again, or to try "just one" 'cos I know that's not possible!!

[nsd_user663_55311]

I suppose I've trained my mind to think that a fag fixes or makes everything better

let music distract you