What You Believe Is What You’ll Get
Me: “Brain, I’ve got a question for you.”
Brain: “Fire away!”
Me: “Brain, I’d like to quit smoking but I really scared to do it; why is it so
hard to quit smoking?
Brain: “It’s hard because you think it’s hard.”
Me: “Are you implying it’s not hard to quit?”
Brain: “I don’t imply; I state facts.”
Me: “But Brain, everyone knows how hard it is to quit smoking; are you stating
as a fact then, that that’s not the case?”
Brain: “Don’t read between the lines—there’s nothing there. I simply said it’s
hard to quit because you think it’s hard.”
Me: “And if I thought quitting would be easy it would, in fact, be easy?”
Brain: “That is correct.”
Me: “Brain, that’s ludicrous—everyone knows how hard it is to quit
smoking!”
Brain: “Save yourself the agony of quitting; you’ll only fail.”
We all know that reality is subject to change.
Tooth Fairy Enjoying a Smoke
Remember how real Santa, the Easter Bunny (apologies to my non-Christian readers) and that little fairy who pays for baby teeth were? And then one day they weren’t. What changed? Your beliefs about them changed, and with them your reality. Reality once stated that the earth was flat but that changed too. Why? Evidence to the contrary shattered the foundations of the belief and in the wake
of its destruction rose a new belief that created a new reality.
Our beliefs define our reality.
…and often those beliefs are wrong. Imagine a belief to be a table top. The top is supported by legs and the stronger those legs the more sturdy the table. A belief is supported by “references”, or evidences that bolster the belief. Back to Santa et.al. for a minute.
Department Store Santa
When you were a child there was ample evidence that Santa Clause was a real guy. You saw him on TV and in department stores. All the other kids believed in him too, so you had peers adding strength to the legs of your table. But most important was the fact that the two most credible sources of truth, Mom and Dad, told you he was real. But he wasn’t. Neither was the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. One day you began to see evidence to the contrary of your belief and eventually the belief crumbled.
What you believe about something determines how you will act toward it.
How did your act toward department store Santa before and after your
belief/reality changed? People would not sail ships out of sight of land because they believed they would fall off the edge of the earth. How do your beliefs about smoking
cessation affect your attempts to quit? Are you terrified to try for fear that
withdrawal will be agonizing? Why do you believe that?
You believe that it will be difficult because you’ve heard a million people
whining about how difficult it is/was/will be.
Well what if those people are wrong? What if the world isn’t flat after all?
Listen to me: The world is round! There is no Easter Bunny! Santa-Schmanta! Let
me be the first leg of your new table, the one called “It’s Easy to Quit
Smoking.” I know, it’s pretty wobbly and unstable right now but stick with
me—one day it’ll be strong enough to hold you while you dance with glee on your
first “I Quit” anniversary.
This blog is great! I agree that the act of smoking is one that is not particularly difficult to walk away from, just don’t buy a pack or don’t light up. The most difficult part, in my opinion, is fighting the craving, i.e. replacing that “smoke time” in my life with something else that won’t have me thinking about what I’m normally doing at that time. Stop by to my blog to see how my journey has been going, if you’d like. I’d love to link up with other bloggers who are/have/want to quit. Looking forward to future posts!
I am a former smoker. Very good point that is made here. I came to find out that it’s only going to be as hard as you make it. It really is going to be something that you are going to have to be willing to change your life style for and come out of your comfort zone. When I had first made the decision to quit I had to stay home certain nights instead of going out with friends because I knew that I would just end up lighting up but later as I progressed and became stronger it was something that I could handle. It at depends on how bad the person wants it, but ultimately it’s going to be as hard as that person makes it. I speak more of this on my blog if anyone would like to check it out.