So how long has it been since you started smoking? If you’re like me you started as soon as you were old enough to even consider smoking in the first place. For others it was when you were a teenager and everyone else was smoking so you thought “why not me?”
A few people of my day and age were extremely lucky to have never started in the first place. My wife still talks about how her father gave her a drag on his cigarette one day and that she almost choked but could not get up to the sink to get a drink of water. She felt so awful she never thought about smoking again from that point forward. I was not that fortunate. I started smoking when I was somewhere around 7 or 8 years old. My parents smoked like freight trains so it was easy for me to sneak a couple of cigarettes out of their pack and then have a few puffs with my buddies. In those days almost everyone smoked and it was a long time after that when it was determined how bad smoking was for your health.
By the time I was 14 of 15 I smoked quite a bit and I smoked in front of my parents by then – just like everyone else. Those were the days of the Marlboro Man – macho smoker and looking cool smoking cigarettes. There was even a song about “smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo – now don’t tell me I’ve nothing’ to do”. Ah, those were the days – or so I thought.
Well, after I got married I wasn’t allowed to smoke in the house since my wife couldn’t stand the smell. So I smoked everywhere else instead. I only smoked one cigarette a day – from when I left the house until I got back home – all day long. Oh, I tried to quit on several occasions, but it never lasted very long. Whenever I quit I always thought I could just smoke one cigarette and it “really wouldn’t hurt”. Well, you know that story or you wouldn’t be reading this – one cigarette leads to another and before you know it you are smoking as much if not more than you did when you quit.
So let’s get down to the nitty griity – smoking is the most addictive habit anyone can get. If you don’t think so then just think about this – does a junkie want another fix five minutes after his last one? No, not really – but a cigarette smoker wants another smoke only a couple of minutes after they finish the last one. The thing is that the more you smoke, the more you want one – it’s a never ending spiral of addiction that seems to be impossible to get rid of. Quitting smoking, once you are truly addicted, may be the hardest thing you can do in your life.
So now you might be thinking “then how am I possibly going to ever quit smoking?” You know it’s bad for you, but you love it. I know I did. At the time there wasn’t anything more fun than sitting back in a chair blowing smoke rings and thinking about stuff. I wondered how in the world I could ever think creatively without smoking. Is it possible?
Well, in truth there is life after smoking. However, in order to quit smoking there are two things that you must own up to in your own mind if you are ever going to quit smoking:
1. You can never smoke another cigarette again – ever!
2. You will never stop thinking about how much you want one.
You must admit these two truths if you are ever going to quit smoking for good. The second truth will fade after a few years of not smoking. The trick about quitting smoking is that over time the urge to smoke comes up less and less often as your body no longer depends on it. The reality of quitting is truth #1 – never again. If you don’t follow rule #1 then you’ll end up in the same place you started when you quit. The thing that helped me stay away from smoking is that I never wanted to have to quit again — it’s just not worth it.
If you can admit to these truths then you can indeed quit smoking. Now I will show you how to quit smoking for good.
How to Quit Smoking for Good
So how long has it been since you started smoking? If you’re like me you started as soon as you were old enough to even consider smoking in the first place. For others it was when you were a teenager and everyone else was smoking so you thought “why not me?”
A few people of my day and age were extremely lucky to have never started in the first place. My wife still talks about how her father gave her a drag on his cigarette one day and that she almost choked but could not get up to the sink to get a drink of water. She felt so awful she never thought about smoking again from that point forward. I was not that fortunate. I started smoking when I was somewhere around 7 or 8 years old. My parents smoked like freight trains so it was easy for me to sneak a couple of cigarettes out of their pack and then have a few puffs with my buddies. In those days almost everyone smoked and it was a long time after that when it was determined how bad smoking was for your health.
By the time I was 14 of 15 I smoked quite a bit and I smoked in front of my parents by then – just like everyone else. Those were the days of the Marlboro Man – macho smoker and looking cool smoking cigarettes. There was even a song about “smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo – now don’t tell me I’ve nothing’ to do”. Ah, those were the days – or so I thought.
Well, after I got married I wasn’t allowed to smoke in the house since my wife couldn’t stand the smell. So I smoked everywhere else instead. I only smoked one cigarette a day – from when I left the house until I got back home – all day long. Oh, I tried to quit on several occasions, but it never lasted very long. Whenever I quit I always thought I could just smoke one cigarette and it “really wouldn’t hurt”. Well, you know that story or you wouldn’t be reading this – one cigarette leads to another and before you know it you are smoking as much if not more than you did when you quit.
So let’s get down to the nitty griity – smoking is the most addictive habit anyone can get. If you don’t think so then just think about this – does a junkie want another fix five minutes after his last one? No, not really – but a cigarette smoker wants another smoke only a couple of minutes after they finish the last one. The thing is that the more you smoke, the more you want one – it’s a never ending spiral of addiction that seems to be impossible to get rid of. Quitting smoking, once you are truly addicted, may be the hardest thing you can do in your life.
So now you might be thinking “then how am I possibly going to ever quit smoking?” You know it’s bad for you, but you love it. I know I did. At the time there wasn’t anything more fun than sitting back in a chair blowing smoke rings and thinking about stuff. I wondered how in the world I could ever think creatively without smoking. Is it possible?
Well, in truth there is life after smoking. However, in order to quit smoking there are two things that you must own up to in your own mind if you are ever going to quit smoking:
1. You can never smoke another cigarette again – ever!
2. You will never stop thinking about how much you want one.
You must admit these two truths if you are ever going to quit smoking for good. The second truth will fade after a few years of not smoking. The trick about quitting smoking is that over time the urge to smoke comes up less and less often as your body no longer depends on it. The reality of quitting is truth #1 – never again. If you don’t follow rule #1 then you’ll end up in the same place you started when you quit. The thing that helped me stay away from smoking is that I never wanted to have to quit again — it’s just not worth it.
If you can admit to these truths then you can indeed quit smoking. Now I will show you how to quit smoking for good.
Giving up an addiction that you’ve had almost all of your life is be extremely difficult. Many smokers who want to quit their unhealthy habit hesitate because they feel that it’s too late or it’s too hard for them to stop.
Confirming your desire to end smoking today is already the headmost step in order to get through in this exertion. It will take time to get used to having no cigarettes in your life.
Quitting Smoking – What Happens The First Day
When you have finally made up your mind that you absolutely must quit smoking cigarettes, that is the easy part. The battle from day to day will be tough to say the least. One of the hardest parts of the battle is actually getting started.