GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or even just thinking of quitting, please join us! We kindly ask that politics be left outside. You can also click the GUS tag to view all diary posts, or access the GUS Library (the archived version for now).
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A message to ALL quitters (and would-be quitters): You don't have to avoid GUS if you have a failed quit. We won't give you a bad time or nag you. We consider the failed quits as "practice" for the real quit.
If you are reading this you know the deal. You are or were a smoker, and you know it is bad for you in so many ways you can safely call it an existential threat.
I gave up smoking May fifth in the year 2000, over 15 years ago. I smoked for 11 years and spent more than half that time trying to quit. Tonight I am going to share with you what I tried and what finally did work, but first some background.
I made it all the way through college as a non-smoker. When I took my first job out of school, as a shop technician in theatrical lighting rental house, I took up smoking, in other words, I got myself addicted. This was in 1989 and you could still smoke in many places, including on the job. The work was mind-numbingly boring and smoking, as many of you know, is a chemical crutch that gives the illusion of alleviating boredom.
I was, and am still, a very active person. Back in those days I would go mountain biking, pause during my ride to smoke a Camel Wide, and I was unrepentant. Vacationland put up a diary recently about the cognitive dissonance we suffer when we smoke, a chemically fueled denial. That was me, in a big way.
Finally, 5-6 years in I had enough. I knew I had to stop, and my struggle started. I tried cold turkey many times. I tried the patch, many times. I tried not buying cigarettes, I tried rolling cigarettes. I hit real lows during that time. I picked up half finished butts off the ground and finished them, I took apart butts in my ashtray and rolled them into a cigarettes. I was a slave to my addiction.
So, what finally worked? In May of 2000 I went to a weekend-long party in the middle of the woods in upstate New York. I was quite a scene and I partied very hard. Along with all the stuff you do at parties in the middle of the woods I smoked A LOT of cigarettes. It was a catalyst. Once the party was over I felt truly horrible. I knew I had to do something, but what?
Simply put, I gave up everything. Anything that I associated with smoking had to go. I stopped going to bars, I gave up alcohol, and I gave up coffee. I went for walks after I finished a meal to help me forget about that after dinner smoke. I augmented the process with the patch. After 5 years of trying, it finally took. Aside from the enablers what else had changed? It was something my brother told me about when he stopped. He told me it was not so much about quitting, it was about becoming a non-smoker. say to yourself
Today, I am a non-smoker
and repeat it every day.
Once I had stopped, I re-introduced coffee and alcohol. This was about six months after I became a non-smoler.
Three months after my change I met my wife. If I had been a smoker it would have greatly hurt my chances with her, so that helped me stay a non-smoker.
So, you can take from this what you will. This is what worked for me. My advice; try anything but never give up trying. Something is bound to stick. Remove the things in your life you associate with smoking and seek out social situations where smoking is not going to work. Find things that interest you and take your mind off the addiction.
You can do this, and you are not alone. Become a non-smoker
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