Day 25: May 8, 2007 and Today's Tip

It's been a very busy day. I had some very critical time constraints today and successfully managed my way through. I find myself contending with the psychological aspects of quitting. While they do resolve into physical side effects, the craving itself is not physical. I had a craving this morning that seemed to be triggered by stress.

The purpose of the Nicotine QUENCH is to create an exit strategy from your craving. It's your personal 9-1-1 call to help you deal with your craving.

Today's Tip
Coping with stress can be rough. When I'm experiencing stressful situations, my mind starts craving nicotine (cigarettes). Fortunately, this is a conscious, controllable situation that can be addressed with my Mind Quench.

The Mind QUENCH is simple. Rather than falling prey to the nicotine craving, I find myself asking how the situation became this stressful to begin with and what could I do to avoid or prevent this in the future. This definitely shifts the focus from desiring nicotine to solving the immediate problem at hand. I recognize that having a cigarette will not change the current circumstances.

The desire to smoke is only temporary. Take the time necessary to think through the current situation. If you're planning an event, also create a contingency plan just in case the first plan fails. This way you'll have an exit strategy when confronted with the problem.

The NICOTINE QUENCH Plan is designed to give you an exit strategy from your craving. It's your personal distress strategy to deal with your craving for nicotine. Rehearse your Mind QUENCH and give yourself positive feedback.

If you need assistance with your QUIT, check out the links on this page or send an e-mail to nicotinequench@inbox.com