GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or even just thinking of quitting, please join us! We kindly ask that politics be left outside. You can also click the GUS tag to view all diary posts, or access the GUS Library (the archived version for now). Want to make sure you never miss us? Follow (♥) the GUS tag to keep GUS in your Stream and easily find the link to the latest one. It's just that easy!
A message to ALL quitters (and would-be quitters): You don't have to avoid GUS if you have a failed quit. We won't give you a bad time or nag you. We consider the failed quits as "practice" for the real quit.
I just now noticed that it's Friday the 13th. Okay, so I'm not particularly superstitious (though I am forgetful, neglecting to remember I'd swapped with flumpty---oops!), but I went with the obvious theme, such as it is, for an open thread.
A lot of success in life is earned through hard effort and careful planning and just plain old fashioned determination, but one thing we don't often acknowledge is the role that sheer luck plays in whether something works out or not. There's a randomness that can't be explained any other way---sometimes we are lucky enough to have the right circumstances arise, the right resources become available, the right people to help us through something---and sometimes we aren't.
When luck is not on our side, even if we've done everything "right," it may not be enough, and we have to recognize that it wasn't necessarily anything we did (or didn't do) that caused things to play out the way they did. It's hard not to feel like a failure in such cases, even though it may have been pure luck (or chance, or whatever you want to call it) that helped someone else who was doing the exact same things get through and succeed in a similar situation. The trick is to learn how to psych yourself up to start over and try again, even if you feel like success might be out of your hands---because it isn't usually entirely a matter of chance, and the more you can do to get yourself into that right place/right time/right circumstances situation, the better off you will be.
Those that face repeated roadblocks or challenges may feel like they're constantly battling bad luck, and it's hard not to be disheartened by a run of bad luck that just won't quit. On the other hand, it's hard not to get excited by a winning streak or a series of fortunate events or successes, even though the reasons for them might be just as random and out of our control. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle there. Some folks believe we make our own luck, others feel as though they go through life at the mercy of fate, and a lot of us are somewhere in between...mostly self-determined, with the occasional superstitious reminder that things might be a little beyond our control.
Do you feel lucky, GUS? Well, do ya?
Who's Your Little Buddy?
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Fri AM: Vacationland, subbing for flumptytail
Fri PM: Open
Sat AM: Open
Sat PM: Open
Sun AM: gchaucer2
Sun PM: Open
Mon AM: aoeu ?
Mon PM: Open
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Tue PM: Open
Wed AM: Open
Wed PM: Vacationland
Thu AM: anodnhajo
Thu PM: Open
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