DAY 10:

THE JOY OF NON-SMOKING.  

The longest journey begins with the first step.

Chinese Proverb.  

There is only to-day. 

You do not have to worry about how you will feel or act 

• To-night
  
• Tomorrow
  
• Next week 
  
• Or next year. 

As far as you are concerned, they don't exist. They are only thoughts - pictures in your mind.

However, YOUR mind will want to project you into this future - AWAY from this moment - the here and now.

It does not want you to EXPERIENCE how you will REALLY feel, NOW, IN THE PRESENT MOMENT when you can't smoke because the feeling is so slight, so insignificant that you won't mind at all that you can't smoke. 

The game will be up. 

You will be free.

The mind does not want you to experience what you will really feel when you can't smoke because it is so slight, so insignificant that you won't mind at all that you can't smoke.

So in the beginning, your mind will fill you with pictures of depression and self-pity.

It will paint terrifying, exaggerated  PICTURES of how you will feel when you can't smoke.

It hopes you will accept it's estimation of how these feelings will be - so that when you get these CRAVINGS during the day - which you will - you will run away from them.

Or try to RESIST them in some way. 

Or worse....... you will hate and curse yourself for picking this day to stop smoking.

But TO-DAY, and EVERY DAY from now, you will not fall for this trick. 

Of course, your mind will be on overtime, especially for the first few days. 

Expect this. 

It is not something to be worried about or hate. Remember what you resist persists.

So simply accept it - don't even hope or wish it will go away.

If it is there, fine.

If it is not there, equally fine. Just accept that you will have all these thoughts and more.

Present moment

Always stay in the moment.

You will ONLY feel tired, anxious or fed-up if you forget and try to get involved in these thoughts. If you think you should fight them or try to reason or argue them away.

Remember the paradox: What you resists PERSISTS. 

So if your mind wants to go on overdrive, let it. 

Don't judge it or try to quieten it down.

Simply let it be and gently focus your attention on something else and you will discover the paradox always works - the mind and it's thoughts calm down.