Building Quit Muscle (RP)

My main focus right now is building my quit muscle. Whether the crave or trigger is big or small, each moment is a victory and the muscle grows, especially in those tough times. So as Gummer says, don't let craves and withdrawals discourage you, they are just the resistance you are training against!

 

Adam

 

(RP)

 

You know how you build muscle

From gummer on 10/20/2010 2:41:18 PM

... by lifting weights? Or by exercising and focusing on your weaknesses?

You know how you learn a foreign language by immersing yourself in it? By scrunching up your brain and forcing it to do things that don't come naturally?

Quitting is no different. Quitting happens when you actively fight your desire to smoke, when you resist the temptation when it is all around you. You are not quitting when you are sitting on the couch watching a movie like a bump on a log. But you are quitting when you are frantic to meet a deadline and you are all stressed out and you don't smoke. You are also quitting when you meet a friend at a bar and you don't smoke even though that is all you want to do. It is during these times that you are building quit muscle. So don't let cravings and withdrawals discourage you. They are simply the resistance you are training against. They are the additional weights, the extra sit-ups that make your eye's bulge, they are the foreign words you stretch to grasp, the sentences you can't quite pronounce. 

When quitting is hard, remember that you ARE making progress, even if it doesn't feel that way. Because when quitting is hard... that is PRECISELY when you are learning, and getting stronger, and moving forward. When you engage the addiction and emerge smoke free, THAT is when you are quitting. That is what will free you.

Be patient.

Be optimistic.

Be persistent.

You will succeed.

Gummer