Eugene

THE VOICES........... (repost)

From BilliB on 2/21/2004 6:54:51 PM

Reframing Your Thoughts
From BilliB on 12/15/2003 11:23:48 AM

We have have those little voices in our heads that whisper
sweet nothings in our ears. The truth is those messages
that are whispered can be down right mean to us. They
speak of guilt, shame, failure, not being good enough and
what a mess we have made of our lives.

Who are these voices ? Where do they come from ? Can that
possibly be the deeper reality of what we believe about
ourselves ? The even bigger questions is: how can we shut
those voices up ?

We can learn how to reframe our perspective about
everything. Actually it is pretty easy, but you have to
stay awake. How does any of this relate to learning how to
live as a non smoker ? I think is it core stuff........
because what we believe deep down inside is what we will
live out in our lives. In starting a new belief that
says: "I am a non smoker, we are shallenging many of our
old core beliefs about ourselves and decisions made years
ago.

When we quit smoking, many of us feel like we have lost
our very best friend or that we are denying ourselves
something of pleasure, a good thing we loved / hated. The
next time you see someone smoking and it triggers a
thought for you to smoke, try taking another look at that
picture. THEY have to smoke. THEY have no choice, as the
addiction of nicotine still owns their life. You have
choices today. Your mind is clearer, your body is stronger
and you can now work on reframing how you view your world.

When the voices talk in your head, question them. Ask
them: "who are you speaking to like that"? Certainly YOU
do not deserve to be treated like that. We try not to hurt
other people's feelings, why should we allow the voices in
our heads to mistreat us ? Be forceful with those
voices....... do not allow them to continue their useless
chatter in your mind. That takes up your time, energy and
self esteem.

Learning how to live as a non smoker requires a complete
surrender to your addiction to nicotine. That surrender is
on many levels, not just physical. As you learn how to
reframe your thoughts you gain power and strength in your
quit. Become aware of all that negative babble in your
head and work to replace it with positive powerful
affirming statements about yourself.

YOU are so worth your quit........ so worth becoming more
aware of those negative thoughts and learning how to
replace them. When a situation occurs and you feel
yourself being hit by those voices, immediatly see how you
can change the picture. Don't allow yourself to dwell in
that place of discomfort. Move your thoughts.

Quitting is a choice that occurs on many levels of our
being. Your thinking and belief is an important part of
that process. You are not weak, you are in the process of
learning a whole new life skill. That is an awsome
undertaking and one that is filled with a big learning
curve. Let's not forget to bring our positive thinking
along on this journey.

~ Billi
1139 Smoke Free Days