Don't stop smoking! if you want to stop smoking..
Well, that's how I did it. I'm not gonna say this method is the solution for the majority. But if you have tried and failed before, then why not try this..
I did not stop smoking, but I started to reduce occasions when I flipped up a cigarette. For example just as you exit a door somewhere, you stop and think.. can I pass on this one? Yes ok I can. Then if you are waiting for a bus or a train, or walking a certain distance you walk every day, you ask yourself, could I pass on this one? Yes. Then in a variety of situations, where you normally would smoke two in a row, you try to reduce to just one cigarette. Or whatever situation, you step down a little. The point is not to beat yourself up over this, and smoke the delicious cigarette when you really have to. But there are still many you can forsake during a day, without going crazy. Let this habit be a routine, and don't progress too fast, but keep reducing steadily.
So for me, in the end I was down to only one cigarette in my pocket. At this stage it was very important to have that cigarette available, even though I didn't smoke it. I could carry it for days, a pack with just a single one left, and not smoke it. But I had to have it, I had to know that at any time, if I want, I can smoke it. And if some idiots on the next table simply had to light up their pipes just as I had finished my heavy meal. Oh.. what a bad luck.. then I would join. In the end I think I carried this single cigarette for 2 or 3 weeks, before i let go of it. Finally also after not bringing with me any cigarette, on some occasions I could walk up to a stranger and ask for a cigarette, if I just happened to need one badly. But also that makes you feel a bit weak at that point, so you likely will not do that for very long. ..oh.. and this is now 12 years ago. I'm still having a few cigarettes a year, but have never dropped back into a habit.
So the trick here is to never make things too difficult for yourself, but let the addiction die out in a slow and natural manner. Because that is what is happening, the addiction will reduce, and it will not feel like much of an effort. And you will not have the issue of "blowing up" on your stop-smoking effort, because your not putting this abstinence pressure on your system. I still today do not mind lighting up, if it being xmas, new years eve, or some other special occation, festival, a few on vacation etc. The cool thing is that I can now still enjoy it a few times a year, but I don't have the abstinence, and it doesn't bother me since I'm allowed to smoke if I really feel like, but it's not an issue for me now.
PS: For those of you already on a routine, don't use this as an excuse to drop out. This is just one way that worked for one guy. I suggest it simply for people who have tried other things and failed several times; people with weak minds
. Obviously it's much more impressive if you can just stop smoking today and never look back! Just think about that sentence..
"I stopped smoking on October 22nd, 2009, and I never looked back". Now that's cool.
