Ron had a tough week this past week as far as smoking goes. I think he dipped into the next day's pack nearly everyday. We are going to spend another week at 15 smokes a day. He needs to feel confident in order to move on. Yesterday was the first day of his second week at fifteen and he did great. At 6:00 pm he still had 5 smokes left - 2 of those were smoked in the middle of the night. Lately, he's been waking up a few times a night and he'll smoke then.I was worried that if I started this blog it might throw him off track by focusing on him. He doesn't like to be the center of attention. What he doesn't realize is that he's not the main attraction because this blog has no followers, so he's safe. Seems like we can't spend too much time talking about smoking or quitting because the more that subject is brought up, the more he craves a smoke. So I try to keep quiet and I'm not going to mention this blog to him anymore.
A few days ago I ordered Ron some B vitamins. These vitamins are great. You stick them under your tongue and let them slowly dissolve. It can take up to an hour for them to completely dissolve. My thinking was that this would give his mouth something else to do and might help postpone his next cigarette. He'd also be getting the complete range of B vitamins which will help improve his mood and confidence. I'll let you know if they make a difference.
Man, I hope this plan works.
I'm not discouraged by having a rough week. I think it is best to include enough flexibility in this weaning process for it to conform to the natural ebb and flow of the stressfulness and unpredictability of circumstance. For a smoker like me, too much struggle will cause the program to backfire. I know it is essential to maintain the effort, and if it takes an extra week to achieve the next reduction, I think it's OK. I think its about finding the level of struggle that doesn't increase as the small victories are achieved. As long as that level is maintained, I am hoping that it becomes a sort of momentum which translates into new found strength. Strength rooted in many small victories, which in retrospect, weren't all that hard to achieve. It makes the idea of quitting smoking suddenly a believable and attainable concept.
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