I'd never refer to it again as a habit, picking your nose is a nasty habit, if you quit you don't have withdrawl,
Nicotine use is an addiction, plain, simple, true.
Best to ya,
RJ
Credit for the below goes to John, a multi year quitter and nicotine cessation counsler
I am a "real" nicotine addict !
I’ve now read twice this morning where members still feel that they are simply suffering from a "nasty little habit." This may come as a shock to you but YOU ARE A DRUG ADDICT! That’s right, look in the mirror and you’ll see an honest to goodness drug addict looking right back at you!
The phrase "nasty little habit" is just more junkie thinking. Such soft fuzzy words are used to self minimize the hard cold reality of being chemically married and dependent upon nicotine. It’s much easier to tell yourself that you just have a "nasty little habit." The warmth of the phrase is akin to that found in the painless word "slip."
Failing to use turn signals while driving is a "nasty little habit" and so is picking your nose, cracking your knuckles or even losing your temper. But, you will not experience physical withdrawal symptoms if you abruptly start using turn signals, or stop nose picking, cracking your knuckles or losing your temper.
Chemical addiction does foster habits but it does so by forcing each of us select patterns for the regular delivery of our addictive drug. Our addiction fathered our drug feeding habits, not the other way around! We would never have developed a habit of sucking smoke into our lungs while talking on the telephone, or after a meal, unless something inside prior cigarettes had compelled us to do so.
Nicotine dependency is extremely dependable. Within two hours of our last puff of nicotine, our blood serum nicotine level would be cut by half and our brain's subtle (at first) signals to again feed our endless cycle of need would begin arriving. To call nicotine addiction a habit is like calling a young child a parent.
But it didn't take any two hours for my mind to generate the anxieties needed to compel me to smoke more nicotine. At three packs a day, if I was on the phone and had not topped off my nicotine tank in the past 15 to 20 minutes, then, like call waiting, a second message would arrive reminding me of my need to feed. If our meal lasted for more than 30 minutes then the command for a new nico-fix would come! It limited uninterrupted driving time, romance, learning, exercise (if you could call it that), work, living and every single aspect of my life.
Yes, it was always time for another fix. Yes, we developed habits but not just for the sake of having habits. There were only two choices - smoke more nicotine or prepare for chemical withdrawal - which fear born of ignorance and multiple prior failures made far more challenging than necessary.
Even when we do break free from the chemical dependency which fathered our feeding habits, we are still forced to deal with thousands of stored memories of what it was like to crave more nicotine. Thank goodness that all those memories belong to someone I am not!
I wish it was just a "nasty little habit," I truly do. Sadly, I am a recovered nicotine addict! But, I prefer the term ex-smoker. It reminds me that although my comfort runs deep, I am still just one puff away from three packs a day. If I want to stay free, and me, all I have to do is NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!
Breathe deep, hug hard, live long!
John - The Gold Club
