Stop Smoking - Panic at the Bus Stop

Hello again.

Well, being a non-smoker is going real swell!

I've had a couple of times where I've had a really strong desire to light up a cigarette this week.

The first was when I went back to college after the Christmas break. I was off from college for three weeks before Christmas due to my depression.
During the holiday, the depression relented slightly but, it was a busy time for me. I didn't have time to catch up. So, going back to college my brain was on overdrive panic mode. "You've missed three weeks work. You have to catch up! When will you have the time?? You won't have time to because you'll be doing the normal work now! What are you going to do?? You idiot! You're such a waste of space! You're a useless person!"



Needless to say, I had a panic attack as soon as I walked through the doors of the college, I didn't even make it to class. My first thought was "A cigarette. That will calm me down." Fortunately, some small piece of sanity tucked away in the recesses of my mind, shouted out to remind me that I don't need them any more. Yay! I went home.

And then two days later, I tried going to college again. This time I started having an attack while waiting for the bus to arrive. I didn't go. I really wanted a cigarette again. Thankfully, that little piece of sanity, lets call him Stan, Sanity Stan, reared his wonderful head and reminded me that I don't need them any more. More Yay!!

Instead I went to the library. I got out my notepad and pen and started working through my CBT techniques to try and figure out what was going on. Then I went to see my friend Tilly for a chin-wag. Thankfully, I sorted it out enough to get into college with significantly less stress the following day.

Hooray for CBT!

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If you want to give up smoking for good, get on over to your local book store, or Amazon, and buy the book! This is not an affiliate link so I get nothing from you clicking it, just buy the damn book!

Till next time

Joel

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01 - January Challenge - Stop Smoking
02 - Stop Smoking - The Start
03 - Stop Smoking - Panic at the Bus Stop 
04 - Stop Smoking - It's behind you! 
05 - Stop Smoking - Post-match Analysis