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Share your quitting journey

Knowledge and information helps

Maki
Member
4 4 102
‎01-17-2021 09:03 AM

Excerpt from Hooked but not helpless . 

Do not Try To Get Rid Of Desires To Smoke:
The discomfort of wanting to smoke is temporary and will get rid of itself. When you have a desire to smoke work through the five steps (listed below).

Do Not Substitute Food:
If you "smoke" food whenever you have a desire for a cigarette, you will not only gain weight, you will never break your addiction. Desires to smoke will continue to nag you until you finally break down and give in.

Stay Clear Of Feelings Of Deprivation:
Telling yourself you can't smoke is a lie and will make you feel so miserable you will run back to smoking. Remember that you can smoke. You just can't do it the way you'd like to: NOW AND THEN or WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR HEALTH.

Give Up The Illusion Of Having "Just One":
One puff or one cigarette has never been enough for you and never will be enough. It will inevitably take you back to smoking your normal amount. The crux of beating a drug addiction is knowing this: IT IS THE FIRST ONE THAT DOES YOU IN.

Choose Between Real Options:
The only real options you have are these: going back to smoking with all the terrible consequences or staying off smoking with the many benefits. You don't have to like this reality, but YOU BETTER ACCEPT IT.

Focus On Benefits - Continually:
Keep in mind the specific benefits you are gaining from being free from your addiction. Counter your compulsion to smoke by remembering what you want more: your breathing, your freedom, and your peace of mind.

Get Smart About Junkie Thinking:
Every time you have a junkie thought, identify it and talk back to it. If you do, these irrational thoughts and plans will eventually lose their power over you.

Take Time Out When You Have A Desire To Smoke:
During withdrawal or in any high risk situation, get away by yourself for a few minutes to review the five steps (listed below) and get your thinking back on track.

Be Uncomfortable - Graciously, And On Purpose:
The discomfort caused by wanting to smoke is temporary and harmless, and it's your means to ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. The desire to smoke will gradually become less intense and less frequent until most of the time you will feel like a non-smoker.

Prepare For High-risk Situations:
Most people who relapse do so within the first three months because they are not prepared for such things as travelling or emotional upsets. Stay alert and beware of overconfidence.

You Don't Have To Change Your Life:
Drinking coffee, having a glass of wine or eating spicy foods will not make you smoke. They can make you want to smoke. So your job is to treat the desires to smoke rather than avoid them. CHANGE YOUR THINKING, NOT YOUR DAILY ACTIVITIES.

Use Dreams Constructively:
Dreams about smoking are very common and do not mean you are doomed to relapse. The anxiety you feel in a dream when you realize you're smoking will teach you that, although you can smoke, YOU WILL NEVER BE HAPPY WITH IT.

Remember, There's No Cure For Addiction:
You will never be a non-smoker. A non-smoker is someone who has never had a problem with smoking, has never struggled to take control of that problem, and never has worry about losing control. You're an ex-smoker, and although you can be a confident and relaxed ex-smoker, you are always susceptible to relapse.

Expect To Have A Three-month Flare Up:
Many ex-smokers relapse toward the end of the third month because their health has improved and the side effects of smoking have disappeared. Don't imagine that time has cured your addiction. One puff and you will be back to smoking compulsively.

Do Not Nag Or Preach At Other Smokers:
You're only one puff away from a pack a day yourself. Take care of your own recovery and watch out for the influence of other smokers around you. Don't glamorize smoking: remember what it was really like to have to smoke all day every day.

Excerpt from Hooked but not helpless 

4 Comments
About the Author
Smoker of 28 years . COPD recipient . My biggest help to quit was to read other successful quitters testimony . I’ll have a thirteen years quit June 30 , 2024 . Biggest lesson learned : I learned the “Just one” lesson . You can never have just one .It is the the key to everyone’s quit . Having “ none” is the easy way to quit smoking . Quit tools : Made use of my strengths and improved upon my weaknesses . Quit benefits , more time with my family , better quality of life , better self image . How I kept the quit : one day at a time , one step at a time . I told myself like a broken record : “ Don’t smoke ; Do something different “ then literally went and did something different other than smoking “ . Quitting is not complicated , nope is it , however it will be the process of self discovery for you to find that out for yourself . How long will that be ? Up to you . We are all different and we come from different backgrounds and smoked for different reasons so no one can really tell you when it will get easier for you only that it will . Be patient with yourself . Who cares how long it takes anyway because we all came to quit forever . This quit is for life , your life , so embrace it , welcome it , it’s the best thing you will ever do for yourself . The money you save get a bucket list of little rewards and big ones and do them . Change the things you can . Life is worth living . This gets easier , oh my gosh , so much much easier . Give it a season , give it two and you’ll never want to let go of your quit I promise you that . It’s wonderful , absolutely wonderful to be free . Quitting btw was the hardest thing I’ve ever done just like everyone here . I shed buckets of tears for weeks , yelled into a pillow , stuck my head into a cold bucket of water and paced aimlessly in head fog . Was it worth it , every bit of it ! Biggest improvement : , my health , the relationship with my family ( all non smokers thank goodness ) and finances . When I started 2011. I was walking three blocks with the use of inhalers for copd . Latest accomplishment : still on the inhalers no further advancement of copd . June 1 2023. Did my first 10 k . Next goal is my second 10k by the end of 2024 . I’m 68 years years young and I’m an Ex smoker . I was able to take three trips ( out of country ) with my family because I quit smoking . Time I never would have had had I not quit . Money from quitting paid for them . I want to say you are in control , take your power back from cigarettes from vaping or any addiction you might have . Life awaits you , don’t let it pass you by . Make the decision to stop and one day that light will shine upon you and make you a whole new you . Thank you to Quitnet members and Ex members for the support and encouragement to quit and stay quit . That along with my desire never to smoke again has given me a life long successful quit . No turning back , ever .