In the evening, I often have moments where I don’t have any work, I have eaten, and the dishes are cleaned. It’s during this moment that I crave a cigarette the most. As soon as I notice the craving in my mind, I take my addiction journal and write it in. I tell myself that it is the only way I will deserve to smoke. However, after I have made an entry, I have forgotten about the cigarette. Or if I still want to smoke, I wait it out with an episode of Community to see if I still crave it. Replacing one of your triggers with a new habit, like making a journal entry, can be really powerful. Luckily, evenings are quiet enough that you can take note of a craving as soon as it crosses your mind, and you can sit with it for a bit as you write in your journal.
I’ve made it apart of my set of events as well as I’ve isolated myself during this journey for a month. Everyday I feel something different and am used to either holding it in or putting it all on one person as soon as I get on the phone or in person. So it may not go in exact order every time I pick up my journal to write in it but when I am feeling something and want to tell someone, I write it down. I see it as whether I tell someone or write it down I am getting it off of my chest. That’s the main goal and that’s how I keep up with writing in my journal because every day I have something to say or am having feelings about my day.
I put my journal and a pen beside my bed to remind me. When I see them, they remind me of the commitment I have made to do it daily.
Notification helps. But most important thing is to start and make discipline for the first 2-3 days. When you write the journal, you helps yourself release the tension and reshape your thought better which ultimately make you feel relax and want to continue in the next on-going days. I have done a journal for 30 days and I cannot believe myself that every times when I have a bad day, one thing suddenly pop in my mind is to looking forward for the journal in the evening routine.
Answers reflect the personal experiences of Fabulous community members. They are not medical or professional advice — for guidance about your health, talk to a qualified professional.
