My NEEDS WEEK CHALLENGE

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NEEDS WEEK CHALLENGE:
Recognize One thing in your life that is a Want, not a Need, and Avoid it for 12 hours.

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When I set this challenge for EarthObSeSsIoN members, I knew that I had to do it. I also knew exactly what it was in my life that I had to cut out for 12 hours. For me it was smoking.

That is the biggest thing in my life that is not a Need, it is a Want, actually it is more of an addiction, and a pretty big bad addiction, in fact.

Yes I am a smoker. I've been a smoker since the age of 16 and have only really tried to quit twice in my life. I was successful for about 2-3 months each time. The problem for me, I guess, is that I prefer to be a smoker over being a non-smoker. I like my smoking friends and I like taking smoke breaks at work. It is most likely my Ego which is attached to smoking, and the smoker's lifestyle, and not that of my True Self, But this particular post is not about my addiction, its about my experience with the Needs Week Challenge, which was actually not too bad for me :)

So I wrote the challenge on Sunday, and I intended to do the challenge on the Monday. I was all set to teach 2 yoga classes back to back after work, so I figured that would keep me occupied enough that I wouldn't worry about smoking. But someone else volunteered to teach the second class and so that morning, I did what I always do when I work from home, start up my computer, brew a pot of coffee, pour myself a cup, light a cigarette, and start my day. If Im going into the office, I'll usually bring or get coffee from Timmies and have my first smoke on the way to work. I dont know why I couldn't do it on the Monday. I think its because I had so many other options. I could do it any other day of the week, or I could wussy out and eliminate some other Want - like cookies from my lifestyle for 12 hours, no problem.

Tuesday went by, then it was Wednesday, and I decided to do the challenge on Thursday.

I was volunteering as a mentor at a big DigiGirls event on Thursday.(Info on DigiGirlz at: http://www.microsoft.com/about/diversity/programs/digigirlz/default...)

Our day started at 8:45 am, so I got up at 7:30am and made myself a Chai Tea (instead of coffee) in my travel mug. I left my pack of smokes at home and set out to start my day. Driving to work without a smoke was not too bad, as I was jazzed that I was actually doing the challenge. The DigiGirlz event lasted from 845 until 2pm. It was very good of me not to smoke or smell like smoke during that event, because I was being a mentor for 20 gr 7 and 8 girls. If it wasn't for the challenge, I definitely would have snuck out for a smoke, because, being a smoker thats what I do, and usually feel like I need to. It was expecially good for me not to smoke that day because I was asked at the last minute to lead the morning and afternoon Fitness Breaks for the whole audience of 120 girls, which was Super Fun, but likely would have been quite bad if any of the girls smelled smoke on me! One more thing to note is that I was very tired during the day. I had to keep my eyes from closing a few times. Im not too sure if this was due to not smoking, or perhaps the lack of caffeine as well!

So then at 2pm, I go back to my desk to sort out the big pile of work that I needed to get done. The worst part of the challenge for me was from 3-5 pm, and especially when I was down at the helpdesk getting my computer figured out, and my smoking buddy Scott went out to have one. During that time, I ate all the food that I had brought to work - 2 tomatoes and a bunch of Kettle Creek chips, which I was going to save for the ride home. I changed into my yoga gear at work and knew I needed to drive straight to the centre for a class, and not stop anywhere along the way! I was so close. I was kinda nervous about the drive, but I had gum, and it was not too bad.

When I left the centre it was 7:40pm. YAYYYYYYY!!! I had done it :) I was super proud of myself. Surprisingly, my friend Rob was outside with his dog Moon who had stopped by for a chat, and of course, I had a smoke with him. The funny thing is that I didn’t even notice the cigarette. It was not delicious or bad tasting, this is probably because I was more involved in our conversation than in having the smoke.

I didn’t smoke on the way home. At around 9pm, my friend Jess came by for a visit. We went out to the balcony to have a smoke. Jess lit hers right away, but I was pausing because Id had a few already and it was weird to me, I didn’t really need or want this one, as I had gone all day without one. I was holding it with my lighter in my left hand. As Jess was talking, a strong heat sensation started in my fingers on my left hand and was creeping up my hand. I believe this was a sign from my body telling me that yes, cigarettes are bad.

Now I am not saying that I am going to quit at this time. In fact I had a smoke while writing this post, but what I wanted to share was that eliminating cigarettes from my life for 12 hours was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I do imagine that it would have been harder, had I not been so fantastically busy on Thursday. But also, I did have less of desire for cigarettes, that night, and I found that my body was more sensitized to them.

All in all, I enjoyed the Needs week challenge, and through it, I learned a lot about myself, my body, and my needs vs wants/ addictions.