How come it is so hard to quit smoking? -
I have tried almost everything, and still I can-t quit. I kept a journal, I tried cold turkey, I tried gradually, patches and still I can-t quit. Personally, it seems like a bad cycle. Instead of quitting, I-m smoking more. It-s like this. I manage to stop smoking for a week, but the following I smoke twice as much. And I can-t stop again for a month. And each time I try, it gets harder. I am so down, where I am losing hope that it is even possible to quit...
There is only one true way. You must want it. You must have a will so strong that you need no smoking. You must wake up every morning knowing that you dont need to smoke, knowing that you want to quit, knowing it would be better for you and everyone. Cold turkey sounds hard, but weening off does NOT work. To quit something, you simply do. Today, and from this day forward, you dont smoke. you used to smoke, you used to enjoy it, but now, you are simply not a smoker anymore. When someone asks, do you smoke, do not answer with i used to, as this leads to the excuse cycle that gets you started again -one more wont hurt, the rest didnt-. Answer with nope, dont touch the stuff. Just become a non smoker. Instead of trying to do something, try not doing something - smoking. If you can get it to become something you just DONT do, then your mental addiction will slowly fade. All those patches, all those treatments and detox centers are to help you get on your feet, to get in control of your addiction, not to keep you off of the drug. If you come to the point at the end of those programs where you must leave and deal with it on your own, means you must realize that this is not a 5 minute fight. You will be fighting this addiction, this curse, for the rest of your life, it never goes away. YOU are all you have to stand in the way of your bad habits, because if you have to smoke that one cigarette, after all the work you went through to go clean, then why even try to quit in the first place?
It-s a scientific fact that nicotine is the most addictive substance known to mankind. It-s harder to kick the habit of nicotine than it is to quit cocaine or heroin. I quit smoking cigarettes years ago, and it wasn-t easy, but I kept uppermost in my mind how I was no longer going to make the dealers in death rich anymore.
Best of luck!
Here-s what helped me quit: coming down with severe bronchitis twice in a row. My lungs were so bad I couldn-t even lay down in bed -- I had to sit up. I had to sleep sitting up! Being that sick really made me reassess my life.
Try this: do something like running or hard biking or swimming that really makes you breathe hard. Just evaluate how long it takes for you to be out of breath. That will probably help to bring home how much you-re damaging your body.
The next time you quit, tell everyone around you that you-re quitting. They-ll give you support and encouragement.
Also remember that it-s really hard to stop smoking. Keep trying, and good luck!
Let me tell you this, and keep it in mind FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE- If you started smoking, you would-ve never been worrying about stopping.