Re: Please read: What would you say...?

Jef, I'd just tell them my story. I'd try not to speak outside my own
experience. I'd tell them what it used to *feel* like to be a smoker. I'd
talk about the fear of what smoking was doing because that fear was real and
how I tried to ignore it but it was always there lurking.

I'd talk about what didn't work with my previous quits and what worked this
time. Then I'd lay out what it felt like today to be a non-smoker and what
the benefits are I'd realized. I'd talk about gratitude.

Then, they could take what they could use and discard the rest :)

In other words, it'd be rather like an A.A. talk. What it used to be like,
what happened, what we're like now. Pretty much the only way I can approach
this type of golden opportunity.

Good luck.

Lee
OOF

--
Hawaiian trapped in a Minnesotan's body


"Jef." <jefo715@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:y8idnVALVZ2it7_anZ2dnUVZ_qqgnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What would you say to a roomful of people who were entertaining the idea
of quitting smoking?
What would you tell a bunch of folks looking for information, advice,
encouragement and assistance in giving up cigarettes?

My wife works at a large hospital in Washington, D.C., as an Occupational
Therapist. Their Director of Therapy mentioned to her recently that
they're about to establish a smoking cessation group, and Marsha mentioned
that I'm a former smoker, have been active here, created a support
website, and that I know --in real life and online-- lots of quitters, and
so forth and so on...

The Director asked if I would come and speak to the group, and despite my
aversion to addressing rooms full of uptight, jittery strangers with way
too much nervous energy, I'm seriously considering it. I'm not yet
entirely clear whether the attendees will be hospital employees (one would
think the ranks of smokers working in health care would be pretty thin...
but who knows?) or just interested community/neighborhood people. (I'll
probably get a free lunch out of the deal... woohoo!)

Hey-- it isn't often that we get a chance to really lay out all the stuff
we've learned during this strange adventure we're all on, or that we're
asked to spend some of the hard-won knowledge we've saved up on our
journey toward smobriety. Sometimes we tend to get carried away in our
zeal to tell everyone the great news about how we've managed to turn our
lives around. Our attempts to share this information may cross the line
into proselytizing or preaching, and wind up turning the listener off,
instead of serving as helpful motivation.

Godnose I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm almost 8 years clean, now,
and I fancy that I've learned a few solid things along the way-- largely
with the help of this community. I was in awe of the quitters I saw when I
first came here-- the ones with A WHOLE YEAR OR MORE clean...! My God! How
do people manage to DO that...?
Well, I found out, the hard way. Didn't we all? I certainly know what
worked *for me*, and what was helpful and what wasn't. Don't we all? I've
always found JUNKIE THINKING to be amazingly clear and effective at
stripping away a lot of delusional rationalization, and will certainly
share that, as well as my own story.

There is so much accumulated wisdom here that AS3 is an absolutely
staggering resource. I'd like to refer a bunch of soon-to-be trembling
newbies here, in the hope that some of them will find the same beneficial
resources available to them that have helped me. We have a WORLD of
experience here. It'd be nice to be able to say to these folks:
"So, that's a bunch of good advice from people in California, New
Hampshire, Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois and Minnesota-- and
then there's this, from some of our *foreign* members..." They'll be
dazzled, eh?

So: If you had thirty minutes of time, a roomful of shaky, about-to-be
quitters, and the chance to offer them some help, what would you say? Got
a sentence or two of pithy advice? I'll gladly quote you, and credit any
helpful bon mots, illuminating, anecdotal info or other examples of
inspirational prose to whoever provides it. Whaddaya say? A whole roomful
of wanna-be quitters... think of the possibilities!

Thanks--

Jef.



.

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