How I stopped Smoking

Like most people, I had tried to stop smoking using all kinds of methods. I also had actually stopped 3 different times, for up to a year, at various times in my life. I always felt like I was missing something though, like I was depriving myself of some wonderful treat. I used to think the only way I could really, permantly stop, was if I got hypnosis and changed the message in my brain that I got as a teenager, that smoking made me cool. Yeah, I always wanted to be cool. My ultimate goal in life.

I tried crushing the cigs up and throwing them in the trash. Ouch, that hurt, throwing a valuable commodity away. I tried writing contracts and having friends sign it as witnesses. Oh yeah, that worked real well. Not. I tried the patch for "medium" smokers. Talk about being wired! The nicotine gum tasted nasty so that didn't work. My favorite was asking friends for a cig and have them light it for me, and then I could sit at the bar with a cig in my hand and still look cool! Boy, there is nothing that pisses a smoker off like not "smoking" the cigarette that they gave you. It's funny now. How do you waste something that is going up in smoke anyway. It is wasted cause it isn't going into your lungs??? Weird. But on with the story.

Two years ago, I got the flu and the thought of smoking almost made me puke. This went on for 2 weeks and after I got better, I thought, well, I will try to not smoke anymore. I really, really wanted one though, and so I thought, if I just try this one day at a time, I can make it. At first, I had to break it down into 5 minutes at a time. As in, I really want a cig, but I won't smoke it now, I will smoke it in 5 minutes. Then I moved it up to an hour, I will have a cig in an hour, just not right now. Pretty soon, I could move it to the next day. I won't smoke today, but I can smoke tommorrow. From the very beginning, I also prayed a lot. Asking for help to stay stopped each day and at the end of the day saying thanks for the help. I do believe this was important for me to do. What I also did, and this amused a lot of people, was keeping track of how much money I was saving. I was a pack a day smoker, so that 4 euros a day added up quickly. Because I hadn't smoked for the 2 weeks I was sick, I had a good head start. Every day at work, I would make my big annoucement of how much money I had saved. I am sure this drove everyone nuts, but it helped me out tremendously. Every morning I made it a habit to calculate my savings. At 120 euros a month, it wasn't long before this sum was substantial. Money in the bank always makes me feel wonderful.

What was funny this time, was that after a couple of months, I didn't really miss it. I felt free and liberated. No more worrying about, did I have enough cigs for the night, do I have enough change, should I leave the house in the morning with enought time to stop by the kiosk, am I bothering my friends if I light one up, am I setting a bad example for my kids, and on and on? I am free, my ball and chain are gone. It it truly one of the best feelings in the world.

So, that is my story and I hope it will help any one else looking for a way out of their own cloud of smoke.