This is Karen Hunter and welcome to the hub.

Yes, we're officially into the change of seasons and the weather's already getting a little

nippy, it's already getting darker earlier, and I'm feeling a need to purge and to make some changes every quarter or so I I check myself

I check my temperature I check my goals we've already talked about that last week and I'm

now in a phase of checking myself and you know I'm

on this 30-day fast of no negativity regarding black people and it's specifically

designed to not be negative towards black people because I think there's a habit among us to be

negative. It's natural as knee jerk. I'm not indicting anyone. I am just myself checking myself

because I can be incredibly petty from time to time and also not mindful.

Last week on my radio show I had Dr. Pam Popper on and I'm actually going to feature a couple of interviews this week so

stay tuned for that that I've done with her off of

the radio and she said something really profound about quitting smoking we were

talking about these new electronic cigarettes and how Michigan became the first state to ban it and we were talking about how we break habits.

She said a couple of profound things that I may expand on later, but one of them was that

mindfulness, like we do so many things mindlessly that we don't think about and

as relates to smoking and I was just processing that.

She said she had talked to a couple of people experts who help people quit smoking and

one of the folks said that he suggests people actually go out and get that pack a cigarette,

you know go out take a smoke break, light up, like deeply inhale, feel the smoke go through

your lungs, smell it, taste it, just quote-unquote enjoy it and have a real smoke quick because he contended most people smoke it's my it's mindless

And you smoke for the results of the, you know, whatever the nicotine and tar, whatever

that does to your endorphins and your brain and it alters your state and you get relaxed and

...