It's Not As Hard As You Think To Quit Smoking
Have you ever wished to quit smoking but told yourself that you would have to smoke cigarettes for the rest of your life? Have you ever tried to quit and then gave up in the middle of the day or that same night? I would keep reading if you think stopping smoking is impossible.
It really isn't as hard as you might imagine. Take it from someone who smokes one pack a day or more on some days. It was like a real friend that I couldn't get rid of. For about thirty to thirty-six years, I've smoked. I don't remember when I first started smoking. About ten years ago, I quit for a week. Back then, I made a terrible mistake by asking a friend for a smoke so I could see what I was missing. That was a huge error! I went back to work full-time and attempted several times since then, but all of my attempts failed except for the final one.
I always tried to quit smoking two or three times a year, like a ritual. The justification was always that cigarettes were too expensive. I never complained about the probable bad impacts it could have in the future. I knew how horrible it was every day for sure. Every day on the news, I heard about how smokers were being kicked out of buildings and restaurants. People who used to smoke but stopped were the worst to be around when they were smoking. I know, my wife stopped 10 years ago. I smoked outside no matter what the weather was like. I hope I never get like that because I don't smoke.
When I tried to quit, I wasn't very nice to be around. I'm sure smokers know how angry they may get when they haven't smoked a cigarette in a long. Every morning I tried to quit smoking, but I made it harder by getting coffee and then running around outside after breakfast in the hopes of running into someone who smoked. I always had a yearning for nicotine around lunch and supper, but I gave in to it over and over again. I didn't last long. I was about to give up on quitting. I thought I would smoke for the rest of my life. I believed I was addicted for good, but one sunny afternoon about 3:00 p.m., as I was washing my jeep, I had my final cigarette.
People keep telling me I was ready. I honestly don't know if I was ready. I do know that there were a few important things I had to do to quit smoking for good, but I'm not sure what the one item was that stopped me from smoking two months later. I know that one of the most important things that helped was telling myself that I didn't smoke even though I knew I did. If folks who knew I smoked were present, I wouldn't say it out loud. They would undoubtedly think I was going crazy. For about two weeks before I quit, I told myself I didn't smoke. You may call it self-preparation. I really did want to quit. I might have been ready.
I just had one cigarette left that bright afternoon, and I smoked it while I was cleaning my car. I told my wife I wasn't going to buy anything else that day. She had heard me say that a lot of times before. She urged me to give it a shot and buy some later, and not to be too hard on myself for at least trying. She said again that it was fine to buy some later. I suppose my wife was ready to give up on me quitting too.
If you want to stop, another important thing to do is learn how to put things off. I kept putting off buying cigarettes till nightfall that same afternoon. It was too late to go to the supermarket when bedtime came. I put it off till the next day.
When morning came, I told myself I didn't smoke. I thought the other important thing to accomplish was to accept my flaws. They say you shouldn't drink coffee, but I did. I was going to tell my brother-in-law not to come over that night since he smoked. I persuaded my wife to let him come over, but he had to smoke outdoors by himself. After thinking about it for a minute, I decided to step outside and watch him smoke. They also told me not to drink alcohol or beer while I was trying to quit smoking. I bought a six-pack for myself and drank it while he smoked. That was the first day. I ultimately gave up, and the next day I didn't want it anymore. The nic fits were gone! I didn't want anything anymore! The bad mood from not smoking was gone! There was no more money wasted on smokes. It felt like I was born anew.
One of the most important things I wanted to do when I quit smoking was to convince myself a few weeks ahead that I was a non-smoker. The second important thing to do was to stop in the middle of the day. Take a moment to think about that. If I had quit first thing in the morning, the day would have been longer for me. You have roughly 16 hours to forget about it once you quit in the morning. I stopped working at 3:00 in the afternoon, which was only 8 hours before I had to go to bed. It took half as long to put everything to rest. I had to wait 16 hours to get the nicotine out of my system before the morning. It was always hard to quit in the morning previously, because I always liked smoking and having a cup of coffee.
The last important thing to accomplish was to learn to say no for the rest of the day. The urge wasn't as strong as it was on prior days when I quit. It must have had something to do with when I left. The craving wasn't as bad as it had been before. The next day, I couldn't figure out why I had smoked so much. I don't want to smoke again to see what I'm missing because the addiction is finally gone.
For around two weeks, just tell yourself that you don't smoke.
Finish that last cigarette in the middle of the day when you're doing something you like. Be sure to be in a pleasant attitude!
Don't inform anyone that you're leaving. Just say that you aren't going to buy anything for the rest of the day.
You should be able to put things off for 6 to 8 hours, which shouldn't be too hard for some of us.
Face all of your flaws that you think will make you start smoking again.
Say no for a whole day! One day, say no! No for one day!
Day three will set you free!
