I must have smoked for the majority of my adult life, a good 10 years at least, nearly a pack a day.
As the smoke clears and my eye adjust from the stinging of the gray haze, i put out the damn thing in a water bottle. Along with all my lighters and all the make-shift ash trays around the house, I threw everything into the garbage can and took a deep sigh......this is it.
That was last last thursday, July 22nd just before 1 am. I am still smoke free right now.
I have tried an' failed more than once. Somehow this time it seems alot easier. I want to share my experience with this encounter and perhaps someone somewhere out might benefit also.
I have a brand new box of Chantix on the counter and 3 months supply of NicoDerm CQ patches in the bathroom cabinet. Didn't even touch them this time, just decided on the spot to quit cold turkey.
My secret: I kept 1, yes, 1 Cigarette in a business card holder that i hid in the garage. I think psychologically, as least for me, i my craving becomes very minimum or managable when i know i have a cig tucked away and i can get to it anytime. The previous times I've tried, i always throw out all my cigarettes and i can never make it more than a day or two.
Now the important part: I don't intend to smoke that cig hidden away, ever! (please don't get into the whole debate about absolution or causal relationships. this is what works for me, it makes my process unbelievably easier and I am benefiting from this arrangement between me myself and I.
Please understand I'm sharing with you my process in which i have found to be successful through failures and psychological warfare with my own mind. If you were to take this a step further, it would be finding out your own weakness and how your own mind plays the bargaining game, and how to negotiate and win.
13 days now, my body feels a whole lot better. My will is getting stronger. And my craving have pretty much all disappeared. Yet still, I will be reminding myself not to fall for it again, one day at a time.
