Hello all, and congrats to all who are now smoke-free and to all who have come here because they know that quiting is something they have to do.
This is a very short diary, but I just want to make a quick point after the fold.
One of the biggest problems with quitting smoking is the view that it is hard. That is if you quit, your going to have to go through some "bad" times. Things will be stressful, you will be irritable and worst of all you'll have to accept change. Bottom, line your going to go through some pain.
This of course becomes a catch 22 to a smoker, because right now we have conditioned ourselves to think that when things get hard, when things get stressful, when we have to deal with something new and challenging, we NEED a cigarette.
So the HARDER we work at quitting the more we want a cigarette. You have to abandon this catch 22 before you can happily be smoke free. I talk to alot of "Non-smoker" who still say they crave a cigarette. Who still say they envoy the poor bastards they see outside in the cold, trying to get the last puff of toxic smoke before they go back inside.
The reality is, quitting smoking is easy. Being a Smoker is hard. Stopping smoking is not the real problem. Every time you put a cigarette out you stop smoking. But we all made huge sacrifices to go and pick up another cigarette again. Driving to the store at 3 am, just to get a pack. Spending huge sums of money while sacrificing what ever else that money could have been spent on. Smelling like a social reject, not socializing with friends who have now quit. and on and on. Being s smoker is hard.
But on of the real reason I think its so hard for most of us to quit smoking is the idea that your giving something up. That your loosing something and have to make a sacrifice. The cold hard relity is your not loosing anything, becuase smoking doesn't do anything for you.
Now I don't mean that being a Non-smoker has a NET gain to be a smoker. I mean there is nothing you get from smoking in any capacity. It doesn't take away stress, non-smoker don't get stressed by not having a cigarette. Smoking doesn't take away your irritability, Non-smoker don't get irritable when they don't have a cigarette. Smoking CAUSED the irritability in the first place.
Your not giving anything up when you quit smoking because cigarettes don't do anything for you in the first place. Thats why quitting is no big deal. So stop sweating it.
I hope everyone has a great day.
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