I have many times said that it's a matter of boundaries. My friends live their lives in such & such way and I either agree or disagree, but what matters is where I walk on those boundaries. I sure as hell don't sleep with their husbands. That's a boundary. I respect it. I also do not teach their children right from wrong. That's another boundary. It's their job, not mine. I don't tell other people's children what to do or what not to do. I also do not ever ever ever correct them. If they are doing something destructive, I might say something, but as a general rule, I leave them alone. They are not my responsibility. I have my own children to teach.
At work, we all have boundaries. I know that I can't take work off my coworker's desk and run home with it and do it better than her. She would hate me. Also, we have subtle boundaries at work that I am aways aware of. And I try to treat people at work the way they want. It's the old "golden rule" and it still works beautifully if you want to make friends and influence people.
What's this got to do with smoking? Well, I have those boundaries also. I don't cross them. I just don't. I have set up this lovely little world for myself and I have built boundaries for myself. I do want to smoke. It does cross my mind. I do think about it. I am human. But, just a quickly as the thought enters my mind, I move it into a fenced-in pasture that I have set up for these cravings. It's labeled and it's moved into it's permanent home. "Here, you belong over here ... go in there and don't come out again."
That's about what I do. I move it in my mind. I put my hands on it and I deal with it and then I move it into my little fenced off area. I close the door and turn my back on it and I walk away.
We have control over what we encourage to grow in our minds. In a nutshell, that's what I do. I address it, and then I label it, and then I move it where it needs to be. Just get it in the right place & it's easy to deal with!
Good luck! And, don't allow the idea to smoke to be roaming free in your mind. Fence it up!
