Happy “Spotlight Day”! I’m very excited to share with you this week’s new and most inspiring success stories (and tips) from the CBQ community.
Let’s do it!
Inspiring Journey
CBQ Program member Debra Matzen from Wisconsin, US, celebrated 1 year smoke-free this week, and she had an incredible transformation!
At first, Debra was skeptical that anything would actually work for her, since she was smoking for 55 years. When she heard people saying if they could quit anyone could, her silent response was “sure”. (And she’s not alone!)
This is what Debra shared within a week of her quit…. Scroll all the way down to see what she said 1 year later.
….1 year later…
THIS was Debra’s email this week!
“Thank you so much! Quitting is something I never thought I could do. I was pretty enslaved to cigarettes and actually panicked if I couldn’t have one. I think I would still be smoking today if it weren’t for your program. Who’d have thought that changing your mind could change your life in so many ways?”
Inspiring Milestone
This week, Joe Wilson from England, UK celebrated 3 years smoke-free! After smoking heavily for 25 years, Joe quit smoking on June 20, 2021, on Father’s Day. He also wrote a goodbye letter during the CBQ Course, in the form of an amazing poem and listed all the reasons why he didn’t want tobacco in his life any more.
Here it is:
Two fingers to the Toxic Trickster
Goodbye, good riddance
You’ve always been my go-to
When I need to take time out
To switch off, to relax with
To run away to and explore my doubts
Farewell, Adieu
You’ve always been a poisonous reward
A void in my routine
A sewer of escape to nowhere
But spiralling around in a cycle of despair
Ta-ra duck, I’m done
Cos you’re just not right
For me, at all, any more
I cannot keep going
back and forth with you
Szia, we’re over
I hate how I’ve had to plan
My day, my life around you
It’s distasteful how you’ve made
My mouth taste so monstrous
My gums gone infected
My teeth rotting in their sockets
I’ve been such a Muppet
But now I see the hold that you’ve held over me
The trick on my mind that I need you to exist
But I don’t, I never did
Two fingers to the toxic trickster
I’ve outgrown this toxic relationship, here it ends
I choose to be present, for my family and my friends
Clean lungs, full of energy, free to be me
No fear, no worries, an incredible future I can see
All you’ve ever brought me is trouble
I hate the regret
I’ve decided it’s time for me to move onAnd be smoke-free again
As I was when I was born
I deserve for me to be free
A happy non-smoker
Now I’m putting myself first
I’ve dismantled you as a limiting belief
Your illusion’s totally burst
You have no power, over me, any more
So don’t call
Two fingers, to you, Toxic trickster
And that’s all
Sincerely, your ex
The authentic Joe says so
Thank you for sharing this, Joe!
Tip of the Week
This week’s tip comes from our wonderful CBQ Program member Louise McAdam from Dublin, Ireland who celebrated 5 months smoke-free and beat cancer! She’s an absolute inspiration.
Louise’s tip: Let your craving thoughts float by.
What has worked best for me is just letting any craving thoughts float away like clouds in the sky. From the day I made my decision to quit during the CBQ Method to Quit Smoking program I never interacted with a craving thought again. As soon as one came I would say to myself or out loud, no thank you, float on by. I replaced my smoking habit with deep breaths and this has worked wonders for me too. Best of luck Kirsty, I truly hope you gain your freedom soon, once you do you will never want to return to smoking again.
As always, I want to say a big thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!
