I am wondering how I did it before. This is not my first time that I have tried to quit smoking. There was actually once that I started considering myself as a non-smoker. It was somewhere around six months that I quit. I remember sitting at a party with a friend and my brother on my first trip home after joining the military. I thought, "I am not a smoker I can have one and not need another. " Of course that didn't work, even when I went back to duty I was a smoker again.
I am also remembering the time I quit for 2 months. This was the time my wife (ex wife now) was on a "Business Trip" the day she left I stopped smoking. When she came back 2 months later she actually yelled at me for not smoking with her in the car on the way back home.
I am thinking about these two past trials, where I feel, although not long enough, they were successful. Why did it seam so easy then. Why is it so hard now. I can say I didn't smoke today, I did however find a co-worker that had some nicotine gum. She gave me three pieces. It works pretty good and I just tore open the second one.
I like the gum thing but I am still going to continue on my path of nicotine free.
Tommorrow I have court again so we will see how stressed I am when that is over.
4 comments:
Dru, all I can say is you are doing far better than I am buddy. Keep up the good work!
[Far too many grammatical errors in early version, should have reread before I published]
Here is my story, for what it is worth
I have now not had a cigarette for seven weeks. I have not used any gum, patches or any other substitute, except for lots of boiled sweets [candy] in the early days - for that hand-to-mouth/oral gratification thing.
The reason I gave up and have not gone back to smoking is that I had what psychologists call a 'trigger event' which helped me change my 'life script'. One night, a housemate of mine did not extinguish his cigarette properly, he emptied the ash-tray into the trash bin and went downstairs. Minutes later the bin was ablaze, thankfully we got the fire under control inside the house. Unfortunately it had spread to the conservatory and we had to call the fire brigade. Nobody was hurt; but, we were all made homeless.
Every cigarette I had following the blaze tasted horrible and smelled worse. So I made use of this negative reaction to give up the dreaded tobacco.
Occasionally I see somebody having a smoke and I think to myself "I bet that tastes lovely". But I don't let the thought go any further than that, I remember that night, stood outside the house, waiting for the fire brigade, expecting to see flames licking my possessions at any second, and that is enough to fight the urge.
I don't blame cigarettes for the house fire, nor do I suggest that you torch your home as a means to give up smoking. But I do think that we need a trigger reason to give up, whether for the sake of one's children, one's health or some other thing that shakes us out of our complacency.
One final note - I didn't intend to ramble on like so - if you are surrounded be people who smoke, you will smoke. It isn't a case of peer pressure or anything like that, but rather it is normalization. It is normal/acceptable to oneself to smoke in situations where others smoke.
All power to you, have a liquorice whip on me
Kevin
Very interesting story. I can understand why that would inspire you to quit. Seven weeks is great! Thank you for sharing :)
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