reno

I am in Reno today, and will be here for the next couple of days. This is a real nice place, and I plan on having a good time. However, it does present some challenges.

First, everywhere I look, I see smoking. I smell smoke in all the public places. There is unrestrained smoking all over the place here. That means constant reminders of cigarettes, and quitting them.

Second, I am on my own a lot. That means that no one is watching me, and no one would know what I did. So if I decided to sneak one or two smokes, I could avoid the embarrassment of my family knowing I failed. It would be so easy.

Third, this place is not exactly a center of self-discipline. The atmosphere here is of total selfish indulgence in any of the many vices that people could have. The Wild West is still alive and thriving here, it has just changed its character.

And last, I get bored real fast with gambling. I think I should just mail the casino my twenty dollars when I decide to go gamble - it’s faster. After about ten minutes, I am done.

For a person who is susceptible to addictions to begin with, it makes it real hard to resist all of those factors combined. Yet that is what I have to do. I cannot go back to smoking. I refuse to consider that as an option.

This is what it means to be committed. You cannot be dedicated to a course of action on a part-time basis. To quit smoking means you can never take even one puff from a cigarette ever. Not even if you don’t inhale. I made the commitment to quit, and I mean business.

This commitment has to be the most important thing for me to be successful. I will not doubt my commitment, nor will I question it. It is important for me to keep faith with myself, my family, my friends, and anyone who knows I made this commitment.

I have decided what I have to do is forget the old memories of smoking in these familiar places and situations. I need to forge new memories of not smoking. I have to change my mind, so I can change my life. That’s what I am doing.

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