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An idea which may help.. Reverse psychology

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An idea which may help.. Reverse psychology

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 93

Hi all. Well yes maybe it would be more representative to say I found quitting alot easier than I thought. Nevertheless I only felt challenged on about 5 days the last being day 15. May I point out that I had extraordinary psychological levels of stress from days 13-15 which were personal and work related. Since I managed not to smoke then I believe I'll be OK. What I would advise fellow quitters is, be happy with your decision, don't mope and celebrate every day which goes by that your not smoking. Seeing yourself do this you will believe in yourself more and more every day and soon as Lolly said you will not even be thinking about smoking. Summing everything up it's not too hard just give it a try maybe you will find it easy but you will not know until you try.... John

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 618

Hi John,

I suspect that you are in a minority of people who say they quit easily! I do think the majority would say they found it easier than they thought it would be. It's the build up to quitting, with the fear of the unknown, and then the first weeks of Hell. that cause lots of people to crumble.

You are right to stay alert and to keep up your guard. Well Done for an amazing quit!!!

Never Look Back! The Future is Ahead!

Love Lolly.

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 93

Hi all Lolly 2 : I think I may be nearly at the point where the decision to smoke may be totally out of my hands. You are right it is a great feeling. I'm virtually not even thinking about it anymore. my only thoughts about smoking apart from trying to avoid smoke is this forum. Working on it: I hope I will not have to resort to mental game again. What surprises me is that although quitting seemed impossible before I started and maybe during the first few days and couple of weeks there were some hard moments looking back it hasn't been that hard after all. But I know I must never let my guard down. I wonder if I'm the only one who managed to quit so easily??? Maybe I just wanted to quit so much they once the first 15 days went by it became child's play. I also thank God for my accomplishment... John

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1140

Hi yts galaxy,

I played some similar mental games with myself to get through:

1) When I finally quit, I had about a half a carton left. I kept it around for a while, with the reasoning that I could have one any time I wanted. No one was stopping me. There was no need for the drama of digging up some cash and rushing to the store for a pack. They were there, and it was simply a question of whether I wanted to smoke or not. (I ended up giving them away to my roommate after a while, when it wasn't as important for me to have that control anymore.)

2) I made a "deal" with myself that I would allow myself to smoke when I drank if I wanted to. It was kind of a mental hedge, a way of me saying that I could still have an exception to the no-smoking rule. ...And then I basically avoided drinking for a while so I wouldn't have to decide whether I really wanted one or not with alcohol in my system.

3) I read some things that indicated that most of the damage I've done with cigarettes would be reduced to statistically unremarkable levels in 15 years. So, my current hedge is that if I still want to smoke after 15 years of being quit, I can. It sounds kind of funny, but I still use that line with myself every once in a while. ...My guess is that smoking will be but a distant memory of a bad dream by the time I hit the 15 year mark.

So yeah, do whatever mental gymnastics you need to stay off the filthy nicotine sticks. And you're right to savor every day that you do.

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12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 618

Hi John.

In a way I think it works. It's the same for every ex-smoker......I CAN smoke whenever I want, but I CHOOSE not to! If that idea is helpful to people I say 'Go for it!' As time passes in a quit, you will be happy to know that the decision to smoke or not seems taken out of your hands....you just stop thinking about it most of the time. Now is that not a fantastic thought?!

Whatever it takes, just don't smoke!!!

Love Lolly.

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11226

Congratulations on your success and also thanks for posting!

You have some great insight to share.

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 93

Hi all, I just finished my lunch and have been browsing through the forum, thinking about my quit. I haven't had any real cravings since day 15 but for the last 2-3 days I have a feeling or maybe just thoughts that the nico-demon is just around the corner, who knows maybe he always will be. That's why now maybe more than ever I want to state that there is no such thing as one more or one last cig. All ex-smokers sadly will have this problem. Personally I no longer want to be in smokey environments or sit next to smokers, inhaling and smelling smoke passively disgusts me. Yet despite all of this something scares me more. I know if I ever even have 1 drag not even a whole cig that I might soon be back on 40+ a day. That's a path which I never want to go down again. I'm very happy and content being a non smoker and life is so much better I can't find the right words to describe it. So now back to my idea which prompted me to start writing this post. If just generally thinking about smoking, craving or mourning your precious loss starts to occupy too much of your time or of the cravings start to get the better off you..... Just stop and say to yourself..... "Listen I can smoke again wherever I want. I just having to go and buy some. " We as humans are never interested in easy tasks. Things we can do anytime we please are of no interest to us. So deal with your craving like that. Tell yourself you can smoke another time, before you know it the craving will be gone. Never forget to rejoice and celebrate every single day, hour, minute and second that you are non smokers..... Thanks for reading John

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An idea which may help.. Reverse psychology