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Forget the pills, the gimmicks, the books and the barman`s advise. This is what I learnt from quitting smoking and I hope it helps you. It can be done. But the change needs to happen inside your brain as much as it happens between your fingers
1. To quit smoking is not a big deal. Life goes on. And soon you will realize that cigarettes are a kind of distraction from life. When the kids get irritating. When your spouse drives you up the wall. When work makes you sleepless at night…you used to smoke. You can`t anymore. Deal with it, because smoking is the big deal. That is what`s changed. That`s what`s gone. The rest stays.
2. Smoking is 50% a habit and 50% an addiction. When you have a cup of coffee. When you finished a big meal. When you get into your car. When you crack your second beer. You light up. Start paying attention to WHEN you light up. It makes it easier to mentally prepare yourself to fight back. Because you have to fight yourself from lighting up. The cigarettes don`t light or buy themselves. You do.
3. Your brain will change after you quit. And even though the brain has no pain sensors, it will make sure you understand that it is not appreciating having to change it`s structure. Cigarettes floods the brain with chemicals that the brain responds to every time you inhale the smoke. And because there are so many of these chemicals in a single cigarette, your brain grows more of these receptors. See your brain as an athlete and the cigarette the sport. The more you smoke, the better your brain becomes at handling the incoming chemicals. When you quit. The brain`s billions of receptors it grew especially to handle these chemicals…needs to die. And no-one likes dying. From there the cravings, mood swings and illogical thinking. The moment the brain understands that it`s been cut off from the chemicals, it will begin to cull these receptors and rewire itself. It is not a nice time and it lasts for about a month. The good news is, once you are OVER this period – smoking seems a bit silly because your brain genuinely does not need the chemicals. But be aware. The brain stores the memory of HAVING these receptors. You can relapse and in a short space of a couple of days, the brain can start to regrow these receptors. It`s the same as gambling, heroine, booze or a bad relationship. That is how addiction works: The actual craving and the MEMORY of the craving are equally dangerous.
4. The benefits are enormous when you quit. Not just the medical stuff. Real, tangible things happen. You can smell. A smoker never smells how badly their house, clothes, car and house smells. You will kind of realize that at round about day 10. You can taste again. Food becomes awesome. So does a whole lot of other things. You have much, much more time. A cigarette takes about 15 minutes to smoke. Think about what you can NOT DO whilst you have a cigarette between your fingers. Now multiply that with the amount you smoke per day. Per month. Per year. Per lifetime. Also. Smoking has really, really become socially unacceptable. Think about the places where you can light up your cigarette without feeling judged. The parking lot? The bar where everyone is drinking? Your house? Your car? You will see these are all small, personalized spaces where smoking is a big common denominator between the people you will find there.
5. Putting of Quitting Smoking is another way of putting of living the life you want. It is a socially acceptable way of procrastinating on the most important part of being alive : Actually LIVING your LIFE without anyting holding you back. Like drugs. Or booze. Or gambling. Or bad relationships. Or smoking. See? All bad choices.
