Stop Smoking Today

Well in stark contrast to the oasis album cigarettes and alcohol, I had my first real test of my non-smoking resolve.  I haven’t always smoked after a meal, haven’t always smoked after sex, haven’t always smoked first thing in the morning BUT I have always smoked while drinking alcohol.  In fact when I think about cigarettes that I’ve enjoyed, I think that the one’s I had while drinking have been amongst the best.  There have been cigarettes I’ve smoked that have saved me to total comotose situations, definitely cigarettes that stopped me from puking after a nasty tequila.   Anyway…back to tonight, yep .. it was tough, but it was doable – I did notice I was drinking a little faster than usual.   Anyway so far so good.

Everyone gets stressed. Smokers tend to smoke more when stressed. As a former smoker, when I get stressed I tend to get the old ‘a cigarette would make you feel better’ feeling. It’s worth rationalising that smoking a cigartette doesn’t solve problems, doesn’t relieve any stress apart from the stress of not smoking. Furthermore, if you’ve resolved to quit you’ll feel like a grade A fool if you start again because of some stressful situation in your life. So just remember, few deep breaths, remember not too take yourself too seriously and remember not to smoke….some days are harder than others….

One of the tactics I have been using to overcome my urges is the use of affirmations.  We are all very lucky that we can talk in our heads, because I am saying the words ‘I am non-smoker’ 10 times in a row during certain parts of the day.  Well, it’s all good fun.  Anyway, the point is, using affirmations can have a postive effect on the way you see yourself.  Truth be told, I still see myself as a smoker on many levels because so much of the last 12 years is associated with smoking.  By using affirmations I’m trying to reprogram myself (hopefully it’s not too late).  So these little bouts of chanting in my head have been quite positive and seem to be helping.

Won’t I feel terrible when I stop?

Maybe you will, maybe you won’t.  You’ll certainly feel a lot less terrible than when they are installing a heart bypass….my dad’s had one of those new zips put in, that has got to be painful.  However, terrible you feel

1) It will pass
2) MOST IMPORTANTLY – you’ll feel better on the otherside

Personally, I was bouncing off the walls in the first 72 hours after my last cigarette.  But for me it got a lot easier.  Other people have no problems whatsoever.

Won’t I put on extra weight?

From a health point of view a few extra pounds is healthier than smoking cigarettes (but hey who cares about the science).  As a hardened smoker (I’d smoked at least 100,000 cigarettes) I never thought I could quit smoking.  When you quit smoking you suddenly feel empowered about life.  So if my next mission is to lose weight, its definitely going to be a far easier ride than stopping to smoke.  I think the simple fact is, eat healthier do more excercise (sounds like a catchphrase) can easily be installed into your new life.

Can I smoke occasionally?

I ask myself this question all the time.  All I can say is that I’ve quit smoking a few times, what the end of each of these periods had in common, was that I decided to have a cigarette.  So I’ve decided that the risk is simply too big.  As a nicotene addict I know experimenting with useage always ends in tears.  The other thing is, if you quit and start again – although you’ve achieved something at the back of your mind you think .. what the hell did I do that for, avoid those thoughts, avoid that ‘next’ cigarette.

What a great question, how about now? Seriously, why delay. I think if we were all honest with ourselves, we would say that procrastination (i.e. not doing things) has cost us more in our lives than action.

I think the whole ritual of ‘this is my last cigarette’ is counter productive. I remember having hypnosis once to stop smoking (failed that time), sitting outside this office, puffing away. I had subconsciously implanted the fact that in quitting smoking I was depriving myself of something.

If you are not ready to stop smoking NOW, ask yourself why. Be honest. If the answers you come up with include things like, I enjoy smoking, smoking makes me feel more confident, smoking is cool – try and rationalise these things. Why do you enjoy smoking? Why don’t you feel confident without a cigarette. The bottom line is, there is no good reason to smoke. One of my particular favourites was ‘I don’t want to get old’, you know what….if I do get old and stop enjoying it, a quick parachute jump could easily solve that problem. You need to give old ‘you’ a chance to live, you never know you might enjoy it.