THE CAGE by DutchVanAfoort
There's this joke about a kid, holding up a cat by it's tail. A group of
bystanders are yelling at the kid to let go, but he holds on and stands
there looking smug. Every time someone walks up to the kid he holds out
the clawing cat in their direction to scare them off.
An older lady walks up to the kid and tries a different approach. She asks
the kid what he's doing. 'I'm showing this cat a good time'. "Surely",
the
lady says, "I don't have to point out the poor thing is screaming bloody
murder, that cat for sure isn't having a good time". 'Sure', the boy
says,
'but he *will* be when I let go'.
-- Mental imaging. Picture this: Ever been in an 'old school' zoo? Ever saw mighty animals like lions, tigers or bears pace up and down a cage coz they're stressed out? While you're addicted to smoking you're pretty much in a constant state of nicotine shortage with short periods of relaxation when you put nicotine in your system.
Imagine your addiction to be a cage and the periods where you smoke you get out of the cage for a while to relax. Smoking keeps you in the cage while you hold the key in your own hands. Eh, you don't smoke anymore and you're out of the cage permanently with your quit as a key. So what's the attraction of getting out of the cage when you're already out? In other words, why do you still want to smoke when all the nicotine is out of your system? You think a non-smoker would relax from smoking a cigarette?
I'm no expert, but from what I read you have to create a nicotine shortage in your system first. Can't tell what it is like for you personally but I could think of a couple of reasons why being inside that cage can be attractive at times. You're outside your comfort zone still. You are still getting used to being a non smoker and sometimes that can make you feel uncomfortable coz it's still somewhat unfamiliar at times.
Man by nature, is a creature of habit. Sitting outside the cage expanding
your comfort-zone, might not be as attractive as being inside the cage at
times coz *that* is what you're used to. Thing is, voluntary lock-down makes
as little sense as holding yourself up by the tail. No matter how used you
are to it. Like the rest of us, you prolly have been thinking smoking was
the perfect solution for pretty much every problem in the book, even though
deep down you knew it never was a solution. We all pretended it was, right?
At the least it bought us time. It gave us an excuse not to give up a habit
we knew was bad for us. Remember the times when you wanted to quit? When people
said you should quit? How much time didn't we all spend finding reasons to
not have to quit? Painting our cages bright golden. Telling ourselves we didn't
have to quit yet. That we were different and it was harder for us to quit.
We didn't smoke enough to do serious damage, or we smoked to much to be able
to quit.
-- Find out what the attraction to the cage is for you and punch another
hole in your keycard if needed. You think you want to smoke for comfort, find
comfort in something else. Give a loved one a hug or put on some comfy clothes
or take a nice blanket, sit on the couch and make yourself feel good in a
more constructive way. You think of smoking as a solution to other problems
still, find better ways to procrastinate. Find other small breaks, you get
the drift. But stop painting the cage golden and see it for what it is. As
pretty as you pretend it to be, it is still a cage and smoking means voluntary
lock-down. Take care of yourself and your needs in a better way. Go out, do
something. Sleep, have sex. Millions of better ideas than spending the day
thinking you want to smoke. Don't stress and be ok with the craves. Remember,
craves wont kill ya. Spot the false truths and learn to laugh about them.
Craves are very real, don't get me wrong here. They're just based on a false
believe you do want to smoke. You only *think* you want to smoke. Fact is
you *want* to quit smoking instead. Realize this and the craves will be way
better to handle.
-- I'll stop rambling after this. I never know for sure with this warped
brain of mine, but what I'm probably on about is this: Be creative with your
quit just like you have been while you were smoking. We've all been exposed
to enough information about the risk and health consequences and managed to
counter pretty much every reason to quit with a good reason *not* to quit.
Use the same energy and creativity you used to find reasons to keep on smoking
to help you stay quit. Be creative and look at your quit from a different
perspective and find new strategies to tackle your addiction. The image of
a cage or the idea of letting my nicoDemon pick me up by the tail works for
me. Look inside yourself and you'll probably find an image that works even
better for you.
-- Sometimes, a detour is the fastest way out.
Wish you all the best in your quit, Robin.
Reposted from alt.support.stop-smoking (AS3)
with permission from the author