How I Quit Smoking, and You Can Do It TOO.

Don’t listen to doctors or non-smokers, they don’t understand you.

“It’s easy to quit smoking. I’ve done it hundreds of times.”

This quote is attributed to Oscar Wilde. I remember how I laughed the first time I read that. But time has passed and now I can truthfully say. He is absolutely right. Until he got it all wrong.

“It’s the easiest thing to quit smoking. I ‘ve quit three times already!”

And I still remember the last time I quit. It was the last time!

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Do you smoke? Have you ever smoked?
Then you certainly have said to yourself many times, that you will stop. But you never do. Your breath may come out hard, you may feel tired often, your hands may be yellow from nicotine .. but every time, you just feel the need to light another one.

You make a small pause. One hour, two hours, 4 hours.. Oh, but then you understand how much you miss it. If you were decisive enough and have thrown the packet away, you run as quickly as possible to the next open kiosk to buy some smokes.

Be ware. It is the addiction that you follow.
It is the habit that you are after.

You have combined in your head all your actions with simultaneous smoking.

I ll explain in a minute.

(Only smokers can understand this)

You feel anxious? You need a smoke.
You feel sad? You need a smoke.

You feel angry? Tired? Relaxed? You need a smoke..

Not only nicotine, but also the power of habit make it so hard for us to quit it. Even if we stop smoking for a while and understand how better we feel, we taste, we sleep .. there will be an awkward moment, when a friend of ours will smoke, or we will smell it from the hallway, or we just need it to relax our nerves.

A few days ago I was looking at some old things and guess what I found.

My old package of cigarettes! I did not remember that I still had them. I don’t know the year, but I think it was 2010 when I last touched that packet.. Look at the price. 3,40€ I dont even know who much they cost now. They were expensive cigarettes back then too!

I also found out a gift of some friends. A case for my lighter, handmade and with my name on it.

So I thought I should take some photographs of them, for old time’s sake and at the same time share some thoughts that persuaded me that quitting smoking was the best decision of my life.

So let me share with you some thoughts that helped me to rationalize smoking and to understand that it would be wise not to restart smoking ever again.

1. You buy thin air with the money you give. You pay your hard earned money .. not only for something that you exhale, but for something that is sooo bad for you, in so many ways.
2. You pay companies that have persuaded you that smoking is cool and makes you popular. It is just their genius marketing for making money out of the smokers, by addicting them to cigarettes, the supposed ‘chic’ image of a smoker and creating a habit out of nothing.
3. If you can find money to buy yourself cigarettes, that means that you can find money to do other things too!
4. Not smoking really changes your taste. I started drinking my coffee black and enjoying it way more after smoking.
5. There are so many other reasons why quitting smoking is good for your health, your lungs, your quality of life.. but I am posting here the ones that really made me think and helped me.

You may ask ..

What about substitutes? Some use nicotine gums, electronic cigarettes, pills, therapy etc etc.

I am not a doctor, nor do I know much about any of the other methods. I believe that it is a matter of habit and the answer is really in our brain. It is ourself we need to convince.

I ll tell you shortly the story of my brother.
My mother wanted to persuade him to quit smoking. So they went together to a doctor specialized to help people quit. He made tests, took pills.. and ..

nothing happened.

He is still smoking, so many years after that.

So, you really have to believe it.

Did my words above have any significance to you?

What happens after you quit?
The only difficulty for me was the awkwardness I felt with my hands, with my fingers. Especially when I was out in a bar etc.

So I found a way. I was holding something in my fingers for a long time after I quit smoking. It was the only way that worked for me.

This is my experience. The fun thing is that only after I actually quit, I started reading what quitting smoking does to the body. How it improves the quality of sleep, the taste, the smell, the concentration even. And trust me, it is all true.

If you want to do something good FOR YOU, maybe this is your sign.

Think first and then decide. What matters most to you?
Be a marketing victim? Or be your own boss?

I would love to know your experience in the comments, or a link to your post talking about it :)

Thanks for stopping by, stay healthy and sane!

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