For many quitting smoking is mostly one of the top items in list of yearly resolutions. Many people struggling with quitting the debilitating habit somewhere in their lives, give up the hope of kicking the habit successfully. A Smoker who is smoking for decades may think it is impossible to quit smoking since the habit has become so ingrained in his or her life that it has become inseparable part of their everyday life.
As an ex-smoker myself, I know how it feels. I cannot separate my smoking habit from my psyche. It seems the habit has reprogrammed my mind in order to obey to smoke whenever the desire arises. For a smoker, he or she does not need an occasion to smoke a cigarette. She can be waiting in traffic, taking a walk, talking to someone, at work, with friends etc. Every occasion is right for smoking. The mind and body are so well trained to pick up a cigarette and light it with such precision that the act does not even register ones conscious mind. It all happens automatically; this way, without her knowing, she could have smoked tens of cigarettes in hours.
Smoking habit creates nasty illusions, indeed. Most smokers claim smoking helps them to clear their minds of worries or stress, inspire them with ideas, make them think clear, and so many other numerous reasons. I wonder how anyone can give a reason that cigarette help them to solve problems. How can anyone explain how so many discoveries, inventions, and great thoughts came into existence without smoking a cigarette? Do we need a magnifying lens to see a smoker is as good a problem solver, an inventor, researcher, manager as a smoker? The only difference is one thinks without smoking a cigarette and another strongly believes the smoking is the reason for his enhanced, if at all, ability to solve the problem at hand, for example. Why smoking is such a strong habit as to it can hamper ones reasoning faculty to reason that cigarette does not anyway create competitive edge over others excepting generating smoke, littering ash, and a health spoiler.
To quit smoking, one should as well strongly believe that one can live with his decision without smoking at least for extended periods at a stretch. Moreover, it helps to identify a strong reason or a motivation such as health, children, or family and friends. Take emotional support from your well wishers and your not smoking wife or husband can be your indomitable support. It again requires reprogramming ones mind and reaffirming his mental strength and believing that his will power is strong enough to hold the habit at bay and win over it completely. One must have faith and rest follows.
To quit smoking, it does not matter how long or how short you have been smoking. It takes one decision to call it a day. For anyone who wants to quit smoking, my advice is even while you are smoking, nurse a idea that one day you would stop smoking and think how your life would be like without smoking. Believe me; just such a thought itself can provoke a strong protest from your mind. Keep pushing the idea everyday to quit smoking completely, and reaffirm the decision every morning and evening. Create strong images of your life as to how it looks like when you are not smoking anymore. Preparation can take weeks, if not months. For a smoker, it is almost impossible to imagine a day without cigarette. Nevertheless, with this exercise you have begun a journey to smoke free life. Nothing is impossible; with your will power nothing can stop you achieving what you want.
To quit smoking, one should be very persistent in his journey to a cigarette-less life. There would be disappointments along the way for having weak will power. It is alright to fail many times over. Just keep pushing on and try stop smoking for extended periods consistently and continue the exercise to increase the period of smoke free days. Increase the period gradually; from hours to days, day to weeks and weeks to months, and months to years. You have two benefits in this approach. One, you can stop smoking for an indefinite period, and two, you have developed a strong will power that would help you in other areas of life. Nevertheless, smoking is one tough habit to stop! Fortunately, there are ways to kick the habit.
When I stopped smoking for the first time after almost 10 years of smoking, I did not smoke again for 3 years! Second time, I picked up smoking for couple of months and stopped completely. Second time it was much easier to stop, just like flipping a switch in my mind. To top smoking, I did not use any nicotine patch, nor availed any counseling or treatment. Once I decided to stop smoking, I just stopped! My mind protested, craved, and cried. I just lent my deaf years, after sometime the craving just waned away! You can stop smoking too, if you believe so.