Jedi do not smoke.

Hey!

That's my stop-smoking thread. I really need to stop this habit because

1) I see how it limits me and that's unacceptable.
2) I see how this substance hijacks my body and it makes me angry at this pitiful depoendency.

Starting today, I start my own challenge to stop smoking. I plan to reduce withdrawal via meditation, beads and sweetmeats.

If you are a smoker too and you've searched for an opportunity to abandon this habit - let's do it together. In here, I'll post every time I'll be feeling bad because of withdrawal and/or psychological dependency.

Today at 23:55 I'll smoke out my final cigarette.

I know, it's easy to say and hard to do. But there is nowhere to retreat when it becomes a necessity.

I shall do what I must.

Ok, so withdrawal syndrome has been launched. Beads, sweets and meditation work fine. Also, breathing, relaxation and reciting code. Plus I associated 21 maxims with beads - they have equal number of globs - so that I can keep my head busy and as extra motivation. All preparation has been done. Now - it's just perseverance.

Jedi path requires so much will out of me, so much discipline. And it's ever increasing things on the path. It's ok if taken one step at a time. Rivers know no hurry.

Nowhere to retreat. I shall do what I must.

Cigarettes as a focusing habit are an awful. Psychological dependency persists. Hard to concentrate on job tasks, thoughts go into infinite loop about cigarettes. How predictable. Whatever mind does, meditations taught me it is not me. So let it crave whatever it wants.

Much greater issue are my general health concerns - those which got me into this tight corner. Worries weaken my resolve. But there ain't much time left to worry before I get full info. And my resolve, even weakened, is much stronger then this substance dependency.

You can do this. It's hard as hell though man. I quit probably 10 years ago. When things come up like dealing with my siser's craziness, or modern day politics, or other stressful situations, I find myself wanting one. So far I've done good and not slipped. But maybe when I get stressed, I"ll try that meditation stuff out. Best of luck to you.

Whilst I have never smoked myself and therefore can not relate to how you are feeling I do have complete faith that you can do this. It takes strength to quit, and I admire you for that.

MTFBWY

Thank you for your support, comrades! I appreciate dearly. I think TOTJO is a good place for such public challenges. There is knightly spirit in them. May the Force be with you.

Frontier-1 seized - 1 day.
Frontier-2 ahead - 3 days.

So far, it's easier then I thought. Perfect motivation is what helps: I am 100% sure that I need to do this, that it is my duty to do so. I am centered in this endeavor, so that doubts can not catch me of guard or throw me off balance. The only thing I lack now is the ability to focus. Objective worries shall dissipate, weekend shall pass and I shall regain that ability.

I think you are really brave , what really helped me too is to avoid alcohol as much as i could which was surprisingly easy to do, the two were closely knit together , i also did everything i did before , so when friends went outside to smoke i went with them , which was a challenge at first , but it felt sooo good to refuse the cigarettes offered Good luck friend i have great faith in you

My worries about health after a small trauma did not dissolve so far, which adds to withdrawal syndrome. I understand that, psychologically, it may not be the perfect moment to stop smoking.

But, as far as I see it, the moment is never perfect. Conditions will never be perfect. My current worries shall dissolve and I'll have new ones, which will seem on the same level of seriousness.

My motivation to not give up, to persevere is still the same. Yeah, it costs me physical health, it costs me nerves. But my deepest motivation isn't physical or mental, it's spiritual - as was the root of this dependency.

This slogan - Jedi do not smoke - may seem as dumb maximalism. But it's not. I understood this when I smoked in a forbidden area and other people saw me. I understood that I was ashamed of myself, like if I was a junkie. Because I was. I saw myself from aside. I saw how pathetic I become with such dependency. As if I was a dog on chemical leash. The whole leash based on self-pity, which is based on fear. Fear to face your problems and not ever close your eyes.

So, my motivation is this - Jedi do not smoke, because it's the opposite of the example we strive to present.

Funny - zen kinda funny - how anything can be used as a tool of self-improvement.

That is truly the Path Buddha lay down, the Middle Path.

What is suffering if everything is just a lesson?

Jedi do not smoke is really a powerful maxim because it is what OTHER people who are not Jedi would say too.

If you were a known Jedi, and you were smoking in public, I could totally see a stranger coming up to you and saying: "Jedi don't smoke... what are you doing?"

Same with me and junk food. "Jedi aren't fat and out of shape, though.. how can you be a Jedi?"