TAKING UPGRADE RIVER BY STRATEGY
A successful upgrade to e-cigarettes is dependent on a pleasant transition process. Sure, there's work to do and jetsam to jettison, but the reward stream starts as soon as we do.
Our e-cigarettes taste better and smell better than our tobacco ones.
That's not just understatement elevated to art form. It's also a big soft magic carpet inviting us to hop on and and enjoy a delightful ride to far and wondrous lands!
Even though years of smoking have effectively trashed our olfactory and taste capabilities, even with all the coughing and biojustments, notsmoking our e-cigarettes is more fun right out of the gate, and that's a fun quotient that is only going up.
When we finally do get across that river, our ability to taste and smell will return, and our e-cigarettes will taste even better. We'll be able to really appreciate juice that we know is Great Art, but we just aren't able to see all the colors yet, make out the outlines and shapes.
That was very clever of me, getting us so transparently into the water like that, because now I must warn you of some dangerous rocks.
It's that demoness self-sabotage again! Just when you thought it was safe to go into that metaphor!
Whatever. These are sharp, jagged rocks that will tear up our brave little raft and hurl us unceremoniously into the frigid, raging rapids where the undercurrent will pull us under and drown us good before we can yell for help.
REWARD BEHAVIOR likes to hide under little pockets of well-meaning but bad advice we've received, like keeping our tobacco cigarettes in some difficult to access place, so that in order to smoke one, we must drop everything and make a concerted effort and perform unpleasant tasks in order to get to them.
This makes it all but impossible for us to avoid Reward Behavior, and virtually assures that we'll fall into the insidious trap of doing things like promising ourselves that if we'll just read 50 more pages of a boring textbook, or finish one section of some tedious work project, we can go get ourselves a cigarette as a reward.
A tobacco cigarette is in no way a reward or a prize. Don't play the dangerous game of trying to turn it into one.
That's tantamount to sending a gilt-edged invitation to behaviors like not having a cigarette - even though we really want one - for another X minutes due to our natural disinclination to leave the comfort of our chaise lounge, get up and go up or downstairs, open the secret passageway or dig under the rose bush or whatever obstacle course we've set up between us and our cigarettes.
If those things sound familiar, it's because they're standard issue in all those Old School Renunciation-Deprivation-based "quit" methods that didn't work for us. If we find ourselves thinking in terms of "caving" or "giving in" to or "overcoming" our desire to smoke a tobacco cigarette, that's Renunciation-Deprivation-think.
That stuff may work for some people, and yay them, but for us, it's nothing but slime on those jagged river rocks we're going to navigate around, because we're upgrading.
A tobacco cigarette as a reward? Really?
That's the seamy underbelly, the Dark Side of the "Quit" philosophy. It's also a nifty example of how self-sabotage will use anything to let us deftly side-step all that stuff about awareness and claiming control over our choices.
Upgrade "don't play that," as the young folks say. It has no need to, because it's not trying to trick us or deceive us, and there's no renouncing or depriving going on.
When we upgrade, we don't "quit" doing something we enjoy, we're doing the opposite - we're going to enjoy it MORE!
Keeping our tobacco cigarettes where we can see them and reach them as easily as we can reach our electric ones makes it damn near impossible to avoid awareness that we've made a choice every time we pick up either one.
Just Smoke When You Want To, and as you smoke, (while gazing at the thing that is not only better for us, but tastes better and feels better) that whole awareness and choices and claiming control thing will happen naturally, no further effort on your part required.
(For safety reasons, especially if we're loopy and/or addled, we keep our lighters just enough out of reach so that we have to stretch our arm all the way out. This will remind us that we're reaching for a lighter, and help us avoid the common Stupid Upgrader Trick of trying to light our electric hookah-doodles).
COMPARE CONTEST COMPETITION COMPULSION
(COMPARPETISHAPULSION for short)
It's a fact of nature that some of us have a more "competitive nature" than others. In most cases, this is a relatively harmless personality trait, that seldom does anything worse than annoy our loved ones who do not wish to race to see who can eat the most mini-samosas before that commercial with the vampire mermaids ends.
Similarly, few of us are so completely devoid of all vanity or insecurity that we never compare ourselves to others, in any way, shape or form.
If anyone insists that they never so much as note with pardonable pride that their petunias are more abundant this year than the neighbor's, or wish they knew as many languages as their sister, they're lying.
We all compare ourselves to others to some degree, and for most of us, this is not only harmless, but can work to our advantage.
That momentary wish that we spoke as many languages as our sister could grow into our acquisition of one that it makes us able to talk to a billion more people than we could before!
In the context of our transition to e-cigarettes, however, there's nothing constructive for competition and comparisons to do, so we need to shoo them out from underfoot.
We're making a sustainable and permanent change, not entering a contest or a race or a pageant.
This is hardly our first rodeo, and we know that things like willpower or stamina or our ability to withstand pain and adversity have jackpiddle to do with achieving our goal of a lifetime behavior upgrade.
If we ever did have anything like that to prove, we've proved it several times over, and its little dog, too, back in the day when our hair stayed black without any Garnier products.
BUILDING A NEURAL PARTY BARN
As previously bleated ad nauseam, it's up to us to channel our inner construction crew and build something new and better for ourselves.
The day will come when life blindsides us with some curve ball or other, and thanks to those new neural pathways we're building and lovingly furnishing with pleasant associations, we'll react to that stress by picking up our electric hookah-doodle and receiving a better quality of comfort from it than we ever got from our chunked and formed processed tobacco product.
Smoke When You Want To is the foundation of our Neural Party Barn. It's the cornerstone of our commitment to a sustainable, permanent change, our upgrade.
A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to smoke a cigarette, so I did. About halfway through, the strangest thing happened.
I felt the desire - no, more than a desire, an urge - to puff my electric hookah-doodle instead!
That urge was much stronger than the one I'd had to smoke the Marlboro, because if you Smoke When You Want To, it doesn't get to the point of urges or cravings.
So, I'd wanted to, and did, and now here I was with this really strong urge to experience the superior sensation, taste and smell of my electric hookah-doodle!
Naturally I cooperated immediately. I stubbed out my Marlboro, seized my hookah-doodle, and went to puffing!
My feet have been firmly on the path since Day 1. I've never had any doubts, but if I had, as I admired that very first brand new neural pathway my inner construction crew had built, all by themselves, those doubts would have, well, vaporized - in that moment.
With time - and doing the work of acceptance and awareness, ascending the learning curve, claiming choices and sending self-sabotage packing - that first little bit of new construction will grow into a whole network of new, pleasantly associated neural pathways, gradually and graciously taking over like a genteel new strain of kudzu, occupying the same space where the old ones were, growing itself into my Neural Party Barn.
Since then, the same thing has happened again. And again. And every time it happens, I reward it - and myself, by putting out the Marlboro and picking up the hookah-doodle.
The other day, I awoke from a nap, and several minutes went by before I realized that the thing in my hand, the thing I was puffing, was my electric hookah-doodle. My cigarettes lay at my fingertips, untouched.
For the first time, I had unconsciously picked up the electric hookah-doodle immediately upon awakening!
As my fellow long-time, very heavy smokers will recognize, that's a HUGE deal.
Wise people here who know more than me tell me these things are normal, this is what happens, that it will continue, gradually increasing in frequency, until eventually the day arrives when the Party Barn is built and decorated, the new operating system is fully installed, and the upgrade is complete.
Assorted Disclaimage: Especially if you are aged, infirm, halt, lame, heavily sedated or any combination thereof, talk to a Smart Shaman about any planned lifestyle change.
If you already have respiratory illness, read this blogrant instead
A successful upgrade to e-cigarettes is dependent on a pleasant transition process. Sure, there's work to do and jetsam to jettison, but the reward stream starts as soon as we do.
Our e-cigarettes taste better and smell better than our tobacco ones.
That's not just understatement elevated to art form. It's also a big soft magic carpet inviting us to hop on and and enjoy a delightful ride to far and wondrous lands!
Even though years of smoking have effectively trashed our olfactory and taste capabilities, even with all the coughing and biojustments, notsmoking our e-cigarettes is more fun right out of the gate, and that's a fun quotient that is only going up.
When we finally do get across that river, our ability to taste and smell will return, and our e-cigarettes will taste even better. We'll be able to really appreciate juice that we know is Great Art, but we just aren't able to see all the colors yet, make out the outlines and shapes.
That was very clever of me, getting us so transparently into the water like that, because now I must warn you of some dangerous rocks.
It's that demoness self-sabotage again! Just when you thought it was safe to go into that metaphor!
Whatever. These are sharp, jagged rocks that will tear up our brave little raft and hurl us unceremoniously into the frigid, raging rapids where the undercurrent will pull us under and drown us good before we can yell for help.
REWARD BEHAVIOR likes to hide under little pockets of well-meaning but bad advice we've received, like keeping our tobacco cigarettes in some difficult to access place, so that in order to smoke one, we must drop everything and make a concerted effort and perform unpleasant tasks in order to get to them.
This makes it all but impossible for us to avoid Reward Behavior, and virtually assures that we'll fall into the insidious trap of doing things like promising ourselves that if we'll just read 50 more pages of a boring textbook, or finish one section of some tedious work project, we can go get ourselves a cigarette as a reward.
A tobacco cigarette is in no way a reward or a prize. Don't play the dangerous game of trying to turn it into one.
That's tantamount to sending a gilt-edged invitation to behaviors like not having a cigarette - even though we really want one - for another X minutes due to our natural disinclination to leave the comfort of our chaise lounge, get up and go up or downstairs, open the secret passageway or dig under the rose bush or whatever obstacle course we've set up between us and our cigarettes.
If those things sound familiar, it's because they're standard issue in all those Old School Renunciation-Deprivation-based "quit" methods that didn't work for us. If we find ourselves thinking in terms of "caving" or "giving in" to or "overcoming" our desire to smoke a tobacco cigarette, that's Renunciation-Deprivation-think.
That stuff may work for some people, and yay them, but for us, it's nothing but slime on those jagged river rocks we're going to navigate around, because we're upgrading.
A tobacco cigarette as a reward? Really?
That's the seamy underbelly, the Dark Side of the "Quit" philosophy. It's also a nifty example of how self-sabotage will use anything to let us deftly side-step all that stuff about awareness and claiming control over our choices.
Upgrade "don't play that," as the young folks say. It has no need to, because it's not trying to trick us or deceive us, and there's no renouncing or depriving going on.
When we upgrade, we don't "quit" doing something we enjoy, we're doing the opposite - we're going to enjoy it MORE!
Keeping our tobacco cigarettes where we can see them and reach them as easily as we can reach our electric ones makes it damn near impossible to avoid awareness that we've made a choice every time we pick up either one.
Just Smoke When You Want To, and as you smoke, (while gazing at the thing that is not only better for us, but tastes better and feels better) that whole awareness and choices and claiming control thing will happen naturally, no further effort on your part required.
(For safety reasons, especially if we're loopy and/or addled, we keep our lighters just enough out of reach so that we have to stretch our arm all the way out. This will remind us that we're reaching for a lighter, and help us avoid the common Stupid Upgrader Trick of trying to light our electric hookah-doodles).
COMPARE CONTEST COMPETITION COMPULSION
(COMPARPETISHAPULSION for short)
It's a fact of nature that some of us have a more "competitive nature" than others. In most cases, this is a relatively harmless personality trait, that seldom does anything worse than annoy our loved ones who do not wish to race to see who can eat the most mini-samosas before that commercial with the vampire mermaids ends.
Similarly, few of us are so completely devoid of all vanity or insecurity that we never compare ourselves to others, in any way, shape or form.
If anyone insists that they never so much as note with pardonable pride that their petunias are more abundant this year than the neighbor's, or wish they knew as many languages as their sister, they're lying.
We all compare ourselves to others to some degree, and for most of us, this is not only harmless, but can work to our advantage.
That momentary wish that we spoke as many languages as our sister could grow into our acquisition of one that it makes us able to talk to a billion more people than we could before!
In the context of our transition to e-cigarettes, however, there's nothing constructive for competition and comparisons to do, so we need to shoo them out from underfoot.
We're making a sustainable and permanent change, not entering a contest or a race or a pageant.
This is hardly our first rodeo, and we know that things like willpower or stamina or our ability to withstand pain and adversity have jackpiddle to do with achieving our goal of a lifetime behavior upgrade.
If we ever did have anything like that to prove, we've proved it several times over, and its little dog, too, back in the day when our hair stayed black without any Garnier products.
BUILDING A NEURAL PARTY BARN
As previously bleated ad nauseam, it's up to us to channel our inner construction crew and build something new and better for ourselves.
The day will come when life blindsides us with some curve ball or other, and thanks to those new neural pathways we're building and lovingly furnishing with pleasant associations, we'll react to that stress by picking up our electric hookah-doodle and receiving a better quality of comfort from it than we ever got from our chunked and formed processed tobacco product.
Smoke When You Want To is the foundation of our Neural Party Barn. It's the cornerstone of our commitment to a sustainable, permanent change, our upgrade.
A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to smoke a cigarette, so I did. About halfway through, the strangest thing happened.
I felt the desire - no, more than a desire, an urge - to puff my electric hookah-doodle instead!
That urge was much stronger than the one I'd had to smoke the Marlboro, because if you Smoke When You Want To, it doesn't get to the point of urges or cravings.
So, I'd wanted to, and did, and now here I was with this really strong urge to experience the superior sensation, taste and smell of my electric hookah-doodle!
Naturally I cooperated immediately. I stubbed out my Marlboro, seized my hookah-doodle, and went to puffing!
My feet have been firmly on the path since Day 1. I've never had any doubts, but if I had, as I admired that very first brand new neural pathway my inner construction crew had built, all by themselves, those doubts would have, well, vaporized - in that moment.
With time - and doing the work of acceptance and awareness, ascending the learning curve, claiming choices and sending self-sabotage packing - that first little bit of new construction will grow into a whole network of new, pleasantly associated neural pathways, gradually and graciously taking over like a genteel new strain of kudzu, occupying the same space where the old ones were, growing itself into my Neural Party Barn.
Since then, the same thing has happened again. And again. And every time it happens, I reward it - and myself, by putting out the Marlboro and picking up the hookah-doodle.
The other day, I awoke from a nap, and several minutes went by before I realized that the thing in my hand, the thing I was puffing, was my electric hookah-doodle. My cigarettes lay at my fingertips, untouched.
For the first time, I had unconsciously picked up the electric hookah-doodle immediately upon awakening!
As my fellow long-time, very heavy smokers will recognize, that's a HUGE deal.
Wise people here who know more than me tell me these things are normal, this is what happens, that it will continue, gradually increasing in frequency, until eventually the day arrives when the Party Barn is built and decorated, the new operating system is fully installed, and the upgrade is complete.
Assorted Disclaimage: Especially if you are aged, infirm, halt, lame, heavily sedated or any combination thereof, talk to a Smart Shaman about any planned lifestyle change.
If you already have respiratory illness, read this blogrant instead
