I woke up today in my own bed, on a Monday, by myself for what feels like the first time in eons without hitting a vape. The cravings honestly woke me up a little earlier than I wanted to get up, but I just laid in bed and tried to sleep a little more, focused on my podcast I had playing to fall asleep to. They’ve been really hard to conquer for these first few days, and it’s hard for it to feel rewarding by itself. Luckily I have been trying to at least minorly reward myself every day, and it really has been doing wonders. In my previous quits, I definitely didn’t really reward myself in any way other than positive self talk, which is great but it isn’t the absolute best motivator for me. I need something a little more tangible, so I got myself dum dums, Kit Kats, and I’ve been allowing myself to enjoy my evenings and trying to talk to friends that I honestly fell out of touch with a little bit. Just doing one nice thing for myself near the end of every day has really helped. And anytime you are feeling stuck in your cravings, try and remember how hard it was even throwing the damn thing away. For me, it has for sure gotten easier since I’ve quit. It wasn’t easier every day, 2 and 3 were probably harder than 1 but, reflecting on my first few days I’m honestly really proud of myself, and the anxiety I feel when I crave doesn’t feel nearly as extreme as it felt in the moment. I am still dealing with a bitch of a craving as I’m typing this, but writing down all the things that I’m trying to do to create a positive change in my life is definitely helpful. At the very least it takes my mind off of the craving in the moment. I also tend to make a ton of excuses for myself to try and loophole my way back into it. From all the reading I’ve been doing lately it seems like this is pretty typical. “Just one won’t hurt”, “I’ll just ask for one hit from a friend/coworker”, “I’ll just buy one more and then I’ll quit”. I fell into that last one quite a few times myself over my life. And it never helped. It only hurt. But knowing that, my brain still desperately wants one more fix. Anyone else dealt with this problem on here that has some advice? Thanks for reading my ramblings. One day at a time folks. We’ve got this! I am never stepping foot in a vape shop again
4 DOF
