I have heard it said that you cannot think your way into right action. You must act your way into right thinking.
If you take the right action, the junkie mind will heal on its own. You will cut through the fear that tells you you can’t stop smoking or vaping, or that you shouldn’t even try!
My former acting teacher use to yell at me, “Act, before you think! He was trying to get me to trust myself. That’s a whole other way of taking action. But that advice has served me in so many ways in my life. For example, I don’t like getting out of bed in the morning to a cold room after I have been under the cozy covers. So I have trained myself to say the minute I wake up, “Don’t think! Don’t think” Because if I think, I will talk myself right back to bed. So I get out of bed to turn off my phone on the other side of the room, and I trust my legs to walk into the closet to put my clothes on, while repeating the phrase until I am fullly dressed and fully awake. It works like a charm every time.
Perhaps you need a “Don’t think” alarm the next time a thought comes to talk you out of stopping smoking or vaping, or staying off. Its all about taking contrary action, usually a 180 degree turn away from what your addicted thoughts will dream up as a solution. “Hey, it’s not that bad! You’ve got it under control now!” Those kinds of thoughts that are not your friend.
The good news is that taking right action precedes right thinking, and it feels so great. You will feel like a whole new person, and you are behaving like one. “Is this really me? I hope this can last.” Those are the kinds of thoughts you will experience. And yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! As long as you don’t take the first puff or hit, you will have the best gift of all, freedom!