Mark Twain once said, “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.” Those words from a great writer best describe the struggles to quit smoking for good. Most people cannot handle the syndromes of withdrawal, and they eventually relapse to the old habit, which further damages their resolve. The good thing is that with the right plan you can quit smoking forever. It really doesn’t matter how long you have been smoking or how much you’ve smoked (except you’ve smoked Bill Hicks’ two lighters per day), because once you stop your body will start to repair and recover the pre-smoking state.
Make Up Your Mind To
In order to quit smoking, you need a strong resolve, fueled by your personal decision. It might be your health concern, protecting your family from second-hand smoke, or just a wish to look and feel younger. Whatever the reason is, it has to be stronger than the urge to light a smoke, which will happen on a daily basis. Always have your goals in mind, and review them as you approach the date of quitting.
Identifying Risky Situations
The first big step in quitting smoking is identifying the situations that could drive you into lighting a smoke. The most common situations that will trigger a relapse are, for example, drinking your coffee, finishing a meal, driving a car, drinking alcohol, using your phone and finding yourself in various stressful situations. What do you have to do is to develop some strategies for dealing with your triggers? For example, you can drink your first coffee at work, drive a different route, get up after a meal and generally make yourself busy enough so you don’t have time to think about smoking.
Get Prepared To Quit Smoking
Once you decided to quit smoking you need to make some preparation for the day D. First of all, stock up on supplies. Smokers generally neglect that smoking is also an oral addiction and that your brain will still crave the sensation of a cigarette after you quit smoking. You need to gather all oral substitutes you can find, including chewing gum, vegetables, hard candies, straws, coffee spoons and so on. It is also important to pick a quit date. You should avoid days you know you will be busy, under tension, or participating in special events. If you want to use some medication you should consult your doctor about your dosage and manner of taking. Also, quitting is easier when you have someone to support you, so let people know. Friends and family can help you by giving you distractions, talking to you and sharing your struggles.
Helpful Alternatives
There are several ways in which you can fight nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and they are basically helping the organism cope with the sudden lack of daily nicotine dose. Be aware that nicotine replacement therapy only helps with the physical addiction to nicotine. Remedies like nicotine patches, lozenges, and gums make organisms absorb nicotine through the skin, mouth and airways. There are also smoking cessation medications, such as Zyban and Chantix. It goes without saying that you have to consult with your doctor about taking those medications. The healthier alternative to smoking is vaping, which is a term for smoking electronic cigarettes. There are numerous ways to customize your own ideal combination of tastes or to buy one in an online vape shop. Just be aware that, despite being healthy and safe, electronic cigarettes still emulate the use of regular cigarettes.
Don’t Give Up
On your road to quitting there will be many obstacles that may and will deter you. Sometimes you’ll find yourself compelled to light “just this one, to clear my lungs a bit”. A situation like that is called a slip, and it is something that can happen to anyone. When a slip happens, the most important thing is to avoid dealing with absolutes. Quitting smokes is not an “all or nothing” situation and you should not let one slip turn into a major relapse. Remind yourself that you are not a failure if you slip and that it is just a small pebble on your road to recovery. The moments of weakness are also very useful for learning from experience. Remember your reasons for quitting in the first place and just fight on.
Conclusion.
As any current and former smoker can confirm, quitting smoking is much complicated than it initially seems. The very nature of nicotine addiction affects a person both physically and mentally. It takes a very strong resolve and careful planning to give up cigarettes for good. Fortunately, there are many ways which can help smokers lay off their bad habit.
