A lot of people are asking me these days, how did I manage to quit smoking. I had it easy, just quit cold turkey and never looked back. Thinking about it now I did do one thing and I will pass this on to those of you who are considering not smoking. First off plan, plan and plan. The SSC has an excellent planning guide to help you get started. So have a plan and then work your plan. Understand that you are about to make a major life style change. You are about to take on and beat a deadly addiction.
Whenever we make the effort to free ourselves of an addiction we are often surprised to find ourselves missing the old habit as we would a familiar friend. This sounds counter productive, because we think we should instinctively gravitate toward what is good for us. Yet, it makes a lot of sense when you consider that we humans are creatures of habit. This is why we gravitate to people and places-and patterns of behavior-that make us feel comfortable. Therefore, many of the habits we form are not conscious and are based instead on learned behavior from roll models who were not always making the healthiest decisions.
Most addictions begin as a way of avoiding feelings that are extremely uncomfortable, so it makes sense that stopping the addiction means a fair amound of discomfort for a time. The same is also true of habits that we have developed over time that we are ready to get rid of. Just knowing that this is hard, and having compassion for ourselves as we work through this proccess can help us stay the course when we feel the urge to "have just one puff". It is also helpful to remember that in time we will establish new, healthier patterns, and the yearning for the old ones will disappear. Eventually, we will instinctively reach for the things that are good for us, and the longing for positive change may form the basis of a new habit.
The only way to get to this new place is to tough out a time of difficulty, which is a challenge we can confidently handle, if we remember that it will lead to the change we seek in our lives. Our bodies, hearts, and minds always need time to adjust to a new way of doing things, but they will adapt, and even become our allies, if we remain true to our vision of a new way.
Duffis
