Smoking - How I Quit This Addictive Habit

 

Introduction

Smoking is an extremely difficult habit to quit.  I know because I have been a smoker for more than 20 years before I finally quit.  There are many terms that people have used when defining or characterizing smoking and smokers.  I have heard things like “Fire at one end and Fool at the other”.  Or if there is a group of smokers standing outside a workplace or organization à “Corporate Addicts”.

Today, smoking is considered a very anti-social behavior.  Perhaps rightly so.  Apart from the bad smell of stale smoke especially, we all know about the ill effects it has on our health and well-being, not to mention our hip pocket.

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Cravings, No Problems, I Can Handle It

I firmly believe that in order to quit an all-encompassing addiction like smoking, you would need to have one of the following:

·       A strong willpower.

·       A dramatic medical report that says you will die within the next 10 smokes or within the next 10 days, whichever first.

That is my experience.  In the more than 20 years that I had been a smoker, I had tried to quit several times – more times than I have fingers on both my hands.

The first few times I tried; I remember that I had given up for about 3 weeks each time.  After that time, when I had the urge to smoke, I psyched myself and said that “Well I ‘ve been off it for 3 weeks now, I am sure I can switch off after just one smoke”.  Easy right?  NO!  I had gone back to become a fully-fledged smoker after every such episode.  Smoking has such a big grip on those who partake of it.  I had no willpower at that time and definitely did not have a condemning medical report.

 

 Strategies I Used While Attempting to Quit Smoking

It is truly a mind game.  Whether you are making your first attempt, 10^th attempt or the very last time, you have to psyche yourself to give the habit up.  You will come with up a plan, that you hope will work.   I call this the “PLAN THE WORK, WORK THE PLAN” phase.  It is not unique to giving up smoking but just about everything you do, you need to have a plan.

Some of the things that I told myself during the planning stages included the following:

·       Giving up a costly habit – both health-wise and monetarily

·       My clothes will smell nice

·       My hair will not smell of stale smoke

·       My room will smell nice

·       My food will start tasting better

·       I can taste everything that goes into my coffee

 

This list becomes endless as you begin finding new ways to treat and reward yourself for giving up one of the habits that you truly enjoyed.  I mean when the phone rings and you hold the phone with one hand, what do you do with the other hand?  Also, what do you do when mates call you for a beer at the pub?  Is there life after smoking?  How will I enjoy that life?  Do I want to be part of it?

I found it interesting that what I was most afraid about smoking was not specifically the cancer(s) it could cause but emphysema.  In my own terms, I like to think of emphysema as purchasing every breath you take with a very heavy cost.  I have heard and seen emphysema sufferers actually trying to breathe.  It could also cause you to cough uncontrollably.  It is a constant struggle, and I find it to be an extremely scary and distressing disease.

I have also had a friend who showed me a human lung that belonged to a person who had died of emphysema.  I can assure you that this was scary stuff.

DID THAT STOP ME? – NO WAY!

WHY?

Because it was NOT ME that was SUFFERING or suffered this dreaded disease or the cancer(s) that can potentially crop up; yet anyway!  It was someone else.

Can you relate with that?

 

Do you know something, there is no such thing as a safe cigarette – low tar, electronic cigarette, made in Australia brand vs made overseas, roll your own, one a day or 25-a-day or more.

These are all excuses!

 

The Trigger - Why Did I Quit Smoking?

Despite my numerous attempts, “PLAN THE WORK, WORK THE PLAN”, nothing seemed to have worked in keeping me away from smoking.  I tried, tried, tried and kept on trying numerous times.  I did not despair, but I was certainly disappointed.

Then, one day I found out that my wife was expecting our first child.  This was the TRIGGER that started me to consider quitting smoking for good.

DID THAT WORK?  FOR SURE IT DID.  WHY?  There are several reasons for this.  Let me list some of them here:

·       I did not want my child’s health to be affected.

·       I did not want my child to see me smoking or take it up in his/her life.

·       I do not want to suffer from emphysema or any cancers due to this habit.

·       I wanted to preserve my health from any other complications that arise from smoking.

·       I want to taste everything I eat.

·       I want to taste everything I drink – what goes into my coffee and other beverages.

·       I wanted a clean and sweet-smelling atmosphere at home.

·       I wanted to save money – not insubstantial - a pack of 25 cigarettes at that time costed about AUD15 (Australian Dollars).

·       I did not want to be classified as anti-social or careless.

 It was still quite difficult to stay away from smoking in the early days of the final attempt.  But now, I had a focus and goal to achieve.  I had suddenly developed the willpower to overcome the many temptations and urges that had plagued me in the past.  I could hold a pen or pencil in the other hand and take notes during a phone conversation; I could still go to the pub with mates and enjoy the get together without the smokes (at this time, smoking was being phased out of public places – good stuff – yay)!  Something I noted within 3 days of giving up the habit was that I felt more energetic.  Living became healthier.

 And it is now more than 20 years since I have been smoke-free!

I think that is a great blessing – to have a healthy lifestyle and great smelling surroundings.

Without your health, you got nothing!

 

I am now living a much healthier lifestyle and am dieting and exercising. As a result of quitting smoking, one can experience some weight gain issues. Here is some information that you can get and take actions on - weight loss and dieting.

To your success!