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Image provided by: Pioneer Library System
Quitting at last is Jim Griffith’s Christmas miracle by Sallie Randolph Jim Griffith, who won the Arcade Herald/Smokebusters contest for a full scholarship to the Smokebusters hyp nosis program, has not had a cigarette for two weeks. “I really feel great. This is so positive. I wouldn’t say it has been exactly easy to quit, but it hasn’t been bad.” Jim, who works as a deputy county clerk for Catt araugus County, was hyp notized by Roy Alden, a regis tered pharmicist who con ducts the Smokebusters program. “It was an interest ing experience,” Jim reports. “First he explained that we needed to really want to quit smoking for the hypnosis to work. Then he spent a long time presenting reasons why '1 don't think I really believed it would work \ we should want to quit smok ing. Some of it was funny, some serious. It was an in teresting program. “After that, he told us to go out and smoke our last cigarettes,” Jim continued. “We had to smoke two at We’d like to express our w a rm wishes: enjoy a peace- fill, serene holiday. Merry Christmas From A ll The Staff JAVA AGENCY Java Village 457-3881 - Insurance- once, one in each hand, puffing away continuously. The idea was to make our last experience with smoking an unpleasant memory.\ The hypnosis itself was a very relaxing experience. “I had no idea what to expect. I remember watching an old Jackie Gleason episode of The Honeymooners where Ralph had been Iwpnotized. He and his best friend had been told th a t they would think their p ants were on fire every time they heard the word ’Chicago.’ It was a funny television show, but it didn t give me much of a posi tive idea of what to expect. I was really quite leary of being hypnotized.” But Jim didn’t need to worry. Roy Alden told him that he would not be p u t into a deep trance and would be fully aware of what was going on. He would even hear the traffic sounds outside. But, during the hynosis, Roy would attem p t to bypass Jim’s conscious mind and fI was ju s t so totally relaxed. Thai's when I realized the hypnosis w as really working.\ plant the suggestion that smoking is harmful and un pleasant directly into his subconscious. “I don’t think I really believed it would work,” Jim says. “I wanted it to work. I wanted to quit, but I just wasn’t sure.” For the hypnosis, Jim sat upright in a comfortable chair and relaxed, listening to Roy’s soothing voice. “I remember him talking and saying that I wouldn’t really like smoking any more. I .didn’t think much was hap pening. He told me that if I ever aid feel like having a cigarette that I should press my first finger and my thumb together very hard. That, he said, would take the desire for a cigarette right away. I remember thinking tnat sounded interesting. I tried to press my thumb and finger together, to try out the tech nique, but I couldn’t seem to lift my hand. I couldn’t seem to move. I was just so totally relaxed. Thats when I realized the hypnosis was really working.” Jim Griffith snaps a rubber band o n his wrist whenever he feels like smoking. Dunng the session, Alden also took Jim for an imagi nary trip to Hawaii. After ward, a woman who had been watching told Jim that he had been sprawled out in his chair, completely relaxed. “I was working on my suntan,” he said with a laugh. “It really felt like I was lying on a beach. It was wonderful.” Jim ’s resolve to quit smok ing is reinforced by several other techniques that Roy Alden taught him. He has placed little dot stickers everywhere he is likely to see them, reminders that he is now a non-smoker. “They’re all over the place, ” he says. “On my bathroom mirror, the clock by my bed, on the phone.” He wears a rubber band around his wrist to snap if he is tempted to smoke, and he successfully uses the techni que of pressing his thumb and forefinger together if he feels a strong urge to light up. “That really does work. It takes the edge off and gets me past the moment.” Alden gave him a forty- minute tape recording to play once each day. “It starts out with soothing music, then some talking. It’s only a few seconds, then I’m gone. The 'I tried to quit the ntacho way, many times\ ____ next thing I hear is the click o f the tape player shutting off,” Jim says. “I really try to stay alert and listen to the tape. I’ve been told there’s another trip to Hawaii on it, but I can’t get past the beginning before I’m so com pletely relaxed that I don’t hear it anymore. At least not consciously.” Jim Griffith is pleased with his success and has nothing but praise for Roy Alden ana the Smokebusters program “It has worked really well, much better than I ever ex pected. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to auit. It’s been so much easier tnan all the other times I tried to quit and couldn’t. ” Jim thinks the hypnosis makes it easier to quit. “Why make it hard for yourself, when this is so much more pleasant, ” he says. “I tried to quit the macho way, many times. That didn’t work, but this did. It seems like a miracle to be free of the smoking habit. It’s my Christmas present to myself, my own personal Christmas miracle.” Kitchen Cabinets by Diamond available thru SEARS CATALOG SALES, Arcade Ml styles cut 40-50% thru Dec. We in stall or do-it-yourself Free estimates. 492-3030 OR 1-800-356-6560 M M E s r ! The staff and children at RHYMES & REASONS NURSERY SCHOOL wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season
