Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Personal Stories If At First You Don’t Succeed: Mary’s StorySmoking Till My Pipe Caught Fire: Jim’s StoryA Doctor’s Daughter Gets Sucked In by the Cool Factor: Judy’s StoryHere to See My Children Grow Up: Mike’s StoryThe Reluctant Smoker Becomes the Persistent Quitter: Ruth’s StoryI Realized It Was Controlling Me: Doug’s Story“I Want to Live”: Phil’s StoryLearning to Handle My Feelings Without Smoking: Cindy’s StoryI’m Going to Have a Baby, How Do I Quit?: Virginia’s StoryWhen the Right Time Came: Bill’s StoryBefore I Quit, I Once Managed to Light My Hair on Fire: Kaye’s Story“My Drinking Triggered My Smoking Every Time”: Robyn’s Story“I Don’t Even Want to Live If I Can’t Smoke”: Joyce’s StoryI Wasn’t Conscious that I Was Engaged in a Suicide Installment Plan: Matt’s Story Meditations Strength Through Meditation90 Daily Meditations Afterword Index

Karen Casey's books have sold over 8 million copiesShe has hired a top level spirituality publicist who is pitching her to Publisher’s Weekly, Shelf Awareness, etc.She will be doing a series of podcasts and local and national radio, including NPR. Karen Casey has a very large following and readership in the recovery marketCasey worked closely with Hazelden, the world-renowned center in Minnesota, garnering her very high trust level with readersShe is a popular public and keynote speaker where she talks about recovery and facilitationShe runs the Women-Spirituality website/blog with a large following, which also provides information to Karen Casey’s workshops and conferencesShe will host virtual events and continuing her highly popular recovery meetings.

From Stop Smoking Now! I remember smoking around an asthmatic. I had to talk to her from another room, talk around corners to her, knowing that I couldn’t quit. Friends began telling me how much my smoking bothered them. They told me my house smelled awful from the smoke, and I began to feel embarrassed. I was also beginning to have some severe consequences. Another friend and I set a house on fire accidentally while smoking, and still I didn’t quit. On a later occasion, I actually managed to set my own hair on fire. The money I was spending on my habit really bothered me as well. Yet I didn’t quit again for another seven years. When I thought I was ready to quit, I made an appointment with a hypnotist. I’d known others who had quit this way. I had to make the appointment weeks ahead. When the time came for my appointment, I cancelled it and just felt really bad. I just didn’t have the strength to go through with it. One day six months later, while driving to work on really icy streets, I started to hyperventilate. I was really scared and noticed that the cigarettes were making me even more afraid. That was the first time I had ever realized that smoking made me nervous. It did not calm me down as I’d always thought. I decided that I would never smoke again while driving when it was icy. That decision felt good, so I decided to take it one step further and never smoke in the car. On that same icy day, I read my horoscope, and it said that whatever I started would be successful. I decided that I didn’t want to go through a heavy withdrawal from smoking. I would just cut back and see if I could do that. I only smoked one cigarette every hour that day. The next day, I smoked one every two hours, but that’s all I could think about. After about a week, I’d gotten down to two cigarettes a day. I was literally climbing the walls. I didn’t know what to do. I had a friend who was quitting at the same time, so I called her and we talked and talked. That helped a lot. I think it is really important to find somebody who has quit smoking and knows what it’s like, because that first week, I really, really wanted to smoke. I felt incredibly off-the-wall. The only place where I had never ever smoked was in my bed. So when I wasn’t going to work or to a party with friends, I’d go home and jump in bed. That phase lasted about a week. I was still struggling, and a friend suggested that I think of myself as a nonsmoker rather than as a smoker who had quit. Doing that was a real help. Another thing that helped at that time was envisioning myself in heaven heading for the smoking section. It helped me to think I would eventually be able to smoke again, even though not in this life. Unlike the previous time when I’d quit, this time I did not feel physically good. I got colds, and since I was feeling deprived, I rewarded myself with sugar. Rewards are important. The first time I quit, I rewarded myself by buying jewelry with the money I saved by not smoking. This time, I craved desserts and rewarded myself with them. Even after eating a big meal, I never felt full that first year after quitting smoking. I was hungry all the time. … I thought it was very important to go through the struggle regardless of the pain. I had been using smoking to cover up my emotions. I came to understand that if I wanted to know who I was, I had to forge ahead even though it was painful–very painful. Today I do know myself and like myself much better. Prior to quitting, if I was upset about something, I would smoke rather than deal with it. Now I’ve learned that I have to deal with the issues that surface. Maybe it means accepting some anger and trying to work it out in some constructive way–or at least means admitting that I’m angry. I know now I have to do something other than sit on my feelings. I haven’t smoked now for five years, but every once in a while, especially if I’m doing something that I used to do while smoking, I’ll want a cigarette. A couple of years ago, I went fishing, and the whole time we were out on the water I wanted to smoke. I had not fished since quitting smoking, and the two were very connected in my mind. Sometimes the urge is incredibly overwhelming. It just feels like I can’t stand not smoking for one minute more. But the urge lasts for no more than a minute and then goes away. I don’t generally know why the urge is occurring, but usually assume something from the past triggered it. Cravings come less frequently now; in fact, these days I can go without thinking about smoking for months on end. What’s been best about not smoking is that I’m more in touch with myself, and I love the freedom of being a nonsmoker. I don’t have to constantly check whether I have enough cigarettes or where the lighter or matches are. I no longer wake up in the middle of the night and have to smoke a cigarette before I can get back to sleep. Now I never have to make sure I’ll be able to make it through a whole movie without smoking. I’m beginning to feel better now as far as my health. Mentally I feel different too. Not needing to smoke gives me more time to myself. At first that was really hard for me. For instance, I couldn’t just sit down and watch it snow. I had to keep moving. Now I am able to move around if I choose, but it’s in a different way. I’m watching the snow; I’m not just sitting there smoking. I’m much more in touch with what’s around me. What I learned was that to become a happy nonsmoker, it helps to think of myself as one. It’s not easy at first, but it is possible. Getting support from others, particularly supportive groups, was crucial.   90 Daily Meditations Day 11 “I am changing my patterns. I’m taking control. The nicotine is no longer in control, and that feels good.” There are so many activities we thought we’d never be able to do without an accompanying cigarette. Most of us were convinced smoking helped us think, relax, write, and converse. We probably relied on cigarettes when we were lonely and afraid. And now there’s genuine joy in the discovery that we can get through the stressful tasks as well as the boring everyday chores that demand our attention during our day without the assistance of a cigarette. Making changes in our lives, changes we’re certain are beneficial to us in the present as well as the future, feels really good. we do have the power and the responsibility for our personal development. We have always had them, but in many instances, we didn’t make good decisions about our behavior. However, quitting smoking has given us a very strong taste of self-determination in action, and it’s exhilarating. We’ll discover as time goes on that it will get increasingly easier to make other healthy choices for ourselves. And each beneficial choice we make will strengthen us for the next. I can do anything asked of me today without a cigarette.