1. Understand that your mind is your worst enemy. Your mind will start playing games with you right after you have stopped smoking. It will try to get its dosage of Nicotine by using any means necessary. It is essential that you do not listen to it. Remember that smoking does not relieve stress or make you feel less nervous. Stress and anxiety are caused by the withdrawal symptoms of Nicotine, and they exist only in your mind. As long you remember this, you can stop smoking even without willpower.
2. You do not need willpower. Most of the smokers are trying to stop smoking by using so called willpower method. This is a mistake, because they assume that stopping smoking has to be a painful experience. They assume that they have to give up something, which makes their lives better. However, if this is the case, why smokers are not usually recommending smoking to anyone? Why they do not want that their children start to smoke? After a smoker realizes that he is not giving up anything by stopping smoking, he also understands that there is no need for willpower. He does not need it, because he is making his life better.
3. Concentrate on living, not stopping smoking. When you are trying to stop smoking, your mind is often tormented by thoughts of smoking. You should do yourself a favor and start thinking about living. By concentrating to the positive aspects of your life, you will soon find out that stopping smoking is not such a hard experience after all. This method works especially well, because thoughts of smoking will disappear soon, if you do not pay any attention to them. Keep your mind busy and remember to stay positive. Positive thoughts will help you to stay active, which makes forgetting smoking easier.

As soon you understand that stopping smoking is a battle against your mind, you have instantly made it easier for you. You know now that your urge to smoke is not a symptom created by your body. It is your mind, who is trying to convince you to start smoking again. However, if you have understood that you are not giving up anything important, beating your own mind will become a pleasant experience. If you continue your journey further, you will realize that you can beat your psychological addiction to Nicotine and finally be free.

I am ashamed to admit that I am a master of making excuses. Here are some of the excuses, which I have used during the last few days:

• It is only a one more day.
• It is better to stop smoking during weekend when I am not stressed.
• I am not smoking so much than I used to.
• What harm can a few cigarettes do?

As you can see, every one of those excuses can be used also at tomorrow. Their purpose is to convince me that continuing smoking is not such a bad thing, especially when I am not smoking nearly as much as I used to. Unfortunately I cannot continue lying to myself like that, and I am forced admit that this time stopping smoking will not be so easy. The question is, what I am going to do about it?

I am not smoking at all during the day when I am at work. My problems begin at the evening when I get back to my home. When I sit on my couch and try to relax a bit, I usually get an instant urge to smoke a cigarette. However, I have noticed that if I do not follow that urge, it will eventually go away. Unfortunately, there is a huge difference between theory and practice. Luckily, I have got an idea how I can transform theory into reality. Before revealing my idea to you, I will briefly describe the essential principle of stopping smoking.

Stopping smoking can be summarized into following phases:

1. Don’t smoke!
2. When in doubt, go back to phase one.

Now we know that the first principle of stopping smoking is to understand that you cannot smoke anymore. This might sound self-evident, but you must understand that the mind of an addict does not follow the logical thought pattern. Its first priority is to ensure that the addict will get regular doses of the addictive substance, which in this case is Nicotine. My plan for beating my urge to smoke is simple:

Every time when I have got an urge to smoke, I will use my exercise bike for five minutes (or long as it takes for me to forget my urge). My goal is to transform these urges to something useful and I have noticed that physical exercise is the best way to deal with them. The best thing about this method is that I can stop smoking and get in a better shape at the same time.

P.s. If you feel that I have no chance in hell to stop smoking by using this method, feel free to leave comment by using the form, which can be found below this entry. Naturally, supportive comments are appreciated as well

I think that her reaction was natural, but I got the impression that she did not understand that smoking is caused by Nicotine addiction. And as we all know, addicts do what they do, because they have a need to dose addictive substances to their bodies. In this particular case, the man was using cigarettes as a source of Nicotine. Since I have got the same problem than he does, I think that I can understand his motives better. I have also been in the same situation than this man several times. I too have lied to my close ones. And now I am going to describe you the reasons, why addicts act this way, when they get caught.

When addicts get caught, they get angry, because they are feeling guilty. Usually the people, who care about the smoker, are very happy when they find out that he is trying to quit smoking. Some of them might even be proud of him, and most of them will support him any way they can. If the attempt to stop smoking fails, smoker often feels that he has let all those people down. However, that is not the reason, why smokers are feeling guilty.

It is very common that smokers try to hide the fact that they have failed in their attempt to stop smoking. They are trying to avoid getting caught by smoking in places, where it is not likely to bump into a person, who knows that they have quit smoking. If a smoker is not a dishonest person (and this is often the case), it is only natural that he feels guilty about lying. I know that this sounds a bit contradictory, but I will explain next, why addicts feel that they have to lie.

Addicts lie, because they are ashamed. I know from experience that stopping smoking will make you feel great. It will improve your self esteem and make you feel better in every aspect of your life. The best thing about it is that you are finally feeling free. You feel that you are no longer a slave of cigarettes. All these great things disappear instantly, when a person starts to smoke again.

It is a horrible feeling and I believe that only a person, who has experienced it can understand, how bad it really feels. The worst thing about it is that you are worried, what your close ones will think about you, when they find out that you have started smoking again. You are already blaming yourself, because you did not have what it takes to quit. You are probably feeling that your closed ones will judge you as well. In this situation, it is much more easier to lie.

I hope that you now understand a little bit better, why addicts behave like they do, when they get caught. Even though I think that people should be honest with each other, the situation is not so black and white, when you are suffering from an addiction. I am not trying to say that it is all right to lie about your addiction (actually I feel that it is wrong), but I just had a need to explain the feelings, which makes an addict act this way.

When I went to bed last night, I was kind of nervous to see, how my first whole day without smoking goes. It did not start very well, because when I woke up, I was having a mild craving to smoke. Luckily for me, my craving did not last very long. After I finished my workout at the gym, it had totally disappeared. However, the best thing about today was that I did not think about about smoking until I visited a grocery store, which is located near to my apartment.

When I was waiting for my turn to pay my groceries, I noticed the cigarette packs located near the cash register. For a fraction of a second I was considering of buying one pack, but then I realized that I had no urge to smoke. My hands were not shaking. I was not feeling nervous. I was simply hungry and tired after a normal day at the office. I abandoned the idea of buying cigarettes right after I realized that I did not need them. I paid my groceries and walked out of the store.

It felt wonderful. I had just won my first battle against my addiction. If only I would able to understand that my war with it will probably last for the rest of my life. However, that does not have to be a negative thing. After all, I do not want to smoke any more.

It is time to quit feeling sorry for myself and reveal my goals for the year 2011:

First, I want to Learn more about addictions. I have come to the conclusion that I need to learn more about different addictions. Understanding the mechanisms behind them could help me to understand my Nicotine addiction, and possibly even help me to beat it. At least I am hoping that studying addictions and their treatment would give me more expertise to deal with my own cravings.

Second, I want to stop smoking completely. This is one of my most important goal for the year 2011. I really want to figure out a way to convince me that casual smoking is not worth it. It is a bit surreal that I want to smoke at certain situations, because I will always feel like shit at the next day (and many more days after that). It just does not make any sense to me, and yet I am still wondering, if I should go out today. Any ideas?

Third, I want to have fun. I believe that it is essential to understand that stopping smoking can be fun and enjoyable. Understanding this will make it easier to stop smoking, because every passing moment does not feel like torture. This might sound like nonsense to you, but I can assure that it does work. When you understand that you are not losing anything important, it will be so much easier to start your new life as a nonsmoker.

I wish you all a happy new year, and I hope that this will be the year when we all will quit smoking together.

Advantages:

• Freedom. I am no longer a slave of the cigarette. Smoking does not control my life anymore. I can do what ever I want to without lighting up a cigarette first. That is a great feeling.
• Better self-esteem. I have proved to myself that I do not need Nicotine anymore. This has had a huge positive impact to my self-esteem, because I have really believed that I cannot ever live my life without tobacco. It feels so good to realize, how wrong I have been.
• No social stigma. Smoking is no longer considered as a cool thing. There is a negative social stigma associated with it. When I am not smoking, that stigma is not associated with me anymore. I am no longer considered as a second class citizen.
• Smokers envy me. I am not particularly proud of this one, but I feel that many smokers are envying me, because they cannot yet believe that they can do the same thing, which I have done. On the other hand, the truth is that there is nothing to envy, because I am still a million miles away from my goal. Nevertheless, this thought is giving me motivation to go on.
• Working out is more effective. I have noticed that when I am not smoking, the results, which I have achieved by working out, are a lot better. I am not sure, what is the scientific reason for this, but I believe that it has got something to do with fact that my blood can transport more oxygen than before. To be honest, it does not really matter. The only thing, which matters to me, is that this motivates me to continue my smoke free life.
• Positive health effects. Well, I am sure that everyone is aware of the fact that smoking is harmful for one’s health. One of the most notable health effects of stopping smoking is improved lung function. It feels unbelievable good to inhale fresh air instead of tobacco smoke. Fortunately, stopping smoking has got a lot of other positive health effects as well. I just personally happen to feel that getting a deep breath of fresh air feels amazing!
• Better hygiene. One of the coolest side effects of stopping smoking is that I do not smell of tobacco any longer. Leaving this unpleasant smell behind also ensures that no one will tell me that I smell awful. That is one of most humiliating situation, which a smoker may have to face. I am so lucky that I left all that behind me.
• Improved sense of taste and smell. I like cooking, and a good sense of taste (and smell as well) is an essential tool of any chef. Hopefully improved sense of taste and smell will help me to make my food taste even better. On the other hand, I am really hoping that I will not start loving food too much…
• Saving money. Even though I did not want to admit it, smoking is really expensive. To be honest, it would be wiser just simply to burn money instead of cigarettes. This way you would be only harming your wallet, not your health. I used to smoke about 30 cigarettes in a day. Thus, stopping smoking saves me 6.9 euros every day.

Disadvantages:

• Enjoying social situations feel hard. This feeling is honestly the only negative thing about stopping smoking. The good thing is that this feeling is not real. It is just a feeling, which is caused by my insecurity. Unfortunately, my slip has made me fear that I cannot enjoy social situations without smoking. Obviously, this is not true, but I still have to find a way to deal with it.

As you can see, stopping smoking has got no real disadvantages. The disadvantages are created by my internal addict, who does not want that I succeed. Luckily for me, it seems that I have got only one disadvantage left. Unfortunately, that one might be the hardest one to break. Any ideas?

The problem is that every time when I drink alcohol, I smoke cigarettes. I cannot understand, why I am behaving this way, because when I am not drinking, I have no urge to smoke. So, why am I having trouble to motivate myself?

It is obvious that I have not understood the points I made, when I confessed that I have been smoking cigarettes. The big question is, what can I do to find my motivation to stop smoking. I have decided to take following actions:

• Stop drinking alcohol. I know that this does not solve anything in a long run, but right now it is the best thing for me, because lately I have been smoking every time when I drink alcohol. Giving up alcohol is a natural choice, because I do not want to smoke anymore.
• Write down the advantages and disadvantages of stopping smoking to a piece of paper. Since I consider myself to be a sensible person, I feel that writing down the advantages and disadvantages of stopping smoking will make it clear to me that smoking makes no sense. To ensure that I always remember this, I am going to put that piece of paper to my wallet, and always carry it with me.
• Throw away every item, which reminds me of smoking. Even though I feel that I can be perfectly calm around items like cigarette lighters and ashtrays, it is better to throw them away. First, it is a symbolic gesture, which basically states that I do not need them anymore. Second, even though I feel that these items have no effect on me, that is not necessarily the case. Subconscious mind can be pretty damn deceiving, and I simply don’t want to take any risks what so ever.

I am also going to find some time to update this blog a bit more often. I am sure that there is at least one person out there, who is interested of finding out, how I am doing.

Am I Right?

P.s. My third effort towards a smoke free life started at 12th of December, 2010.

So, where did I go wrong?

• I forgot that there is no such thing than a just a one cigarette. At some point I started to believe that I would be able to become a casual smoker. I had an illusion that I could enjoy an occasional cigarette, and continue my normal life as a nonsmoker. Basically, I was trying to get the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, this approach has a couple of problems: First, I was not able to enjoy an occasional cigarette, because of the awful taste of cigarettes. Second, my internal addict got a new fix of Nicotine, and it started tormenting me again.
• I forgot that I am not the one making a sacrifice. I am ashamed to admit it, but I envied smokers. For some reason I had started to believe that my life would be missing something, if I wouldn’t be able to smoke. I had forgot that stopping smoking was my own choice. I was not forced to do it. Also, when I was still smoking, I was always hoping that I would have the willpower to quit. I am not the one, who is making a sacrifice. Actually, I should be pitying smokers, because instead of reclaiming their freedom, they choose to live as slaves.
• I forgot my reasons for stopping smoking. Before I decided to quit smoking, smoking was controlling every aspect of my life. I had forgotten, what it felt like to be a slave of a cigarette pack. Stopping smoking brought so many positive aspects in to my life that my motivation to stay as a nonsmoker decreased. I know that this sounds absurd, but I kind of forgot that my life changed for better, because I decided to stop smoking. At the same time I gradually forgot, how my life was like when I was still smoking. Smoking just a single cigarette did not feel like a big deal to me. Oh boy, I was so wrong.
• I forgot that I am a drug addict. I would not advise a person, who is addicted to a heroin, to try one’s luck by using it only one more time. How did I persuade myself to smoke that famous cigarette? The answer is obvious: I forgot that I am drug addict. I forgot it, because I am not especially proud of it. It is much more easier to refer smoking as a bad habit than a drug addiction. Nevertheless, the truth is that smoking is an addiction. Admitting it is an essential part of the healing process. Remembering it makes it easier to stay as a nonsmoker.

After telling you what went wrong, I feel that it is only fair to be totally honest with you. Today is my fifth day without smoking. It means that my new life as a nonsmoker started at Sunday, 28th of November, 2010.

P.s. If you are interested of a more interactive way of following my progress, you can start following me at Twitter.

Luckily for me, I received my punished in the next morning. It took me the whole weekend to recover, and my throat has been full of slime ever since. At first, this does not seem like a fair price to pay for smoking just a few cigarettes. Actually, you are about to find out that the price is more than fair.

So, I guess the big question is, am I going to start smoking again on a regular basis? Hell no! I made a mistake, and my body reminded me about the dangers of smoking in a very harsh way. Still, I consider myself very lucky, because it seems that my physical addiction to Nicotine has not returned.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about my psychological addiction. My internal addict has been reborn, and he seems to be stronger than ever. I have to relearn that the decision not to smoke is mine to make. I can smoke again whenever I want to, but at the moment, I choose not to smoke.

Did I learn anything? Sure I did. I learned that:

• The essence of stopping smoking is to learn, how you can enjoy situations, where you have normally smoked, without smoking. It seems that I have not yet learned, how I can enjoy drinking alcohol with my friends without smoking. Thus, I need to work harder with this area of my life.
• If you happen to have a weak moment, and you choose to smoke a cigarette, it does not mean that you have to continue smoking. After all, it was only a one cigarette. It does not have to mean that you are a smoker again. I will repeat this: You don’t have to continue smoking! However, if you do so, you have to acknowledge that it was your own decision. You cannot blame anyone else than yourself.

If you fall off a horse, the best thing you can do, is to get back in the saddle. After I fell, I got up and said to myself: from now on, I choose not to smoke. There is really no reason to feel bad, because of what happened. It is best to accept it, forget that it ever happened, and move on. After all, we can only shape our future.

As I wrote almost a month ago, the previous attack of my internal addict brought back memories of my old mistakes. This time, my internal addict has selected a bit more subtle approach. Instead of trying to break me by bringing back agonizing memories, my internal addict is reminding me about the fun I used to have, when I was still smoking. This is indeed a brilliant strategy, because it does not activate my defenses immediately. It takes some time for me to realize, what is really going on. My internal addict uses this time, and tries to convince me that I can still have fun again. All I need to do is to light that first cigarette.

Saying no to this urge might seem like an easy task for a person, who has spent 84 days without smoking. However, I have noticed that it is not an easy task. The problem is that resisting an urge created by positive memories is not so straight forward than resisting an urge, which was raised by negative thoughts. The latter can be resisted by understanding that smoking will not improve the situation at all. Defeating an urge created by positive memories requires a different approach.

It is important to realize that smoking has got nothing to do with the fact that you are having those memories. Smoking might be included in your memories, but only because you were smoking at the time. The link between smoking and having a good time is an illusion, which is created to lure you back in to the trap.

At first, it was hard for me to realize this, but after a while I noticed a pattern in my memories. Every good memory of mine, which associated having a good time with smoking, started with a memory of a pleasant situation. After this, a thought reminding me that I was smoking at the time, was born. Even in my mind, a memory of having fun, and a thought of smoking, were not united. This realization helped me to unveil the disguise of my internal addict, and gave me the motivation needed to deal with him.

I have to admit that I was surprised to face this situation, but it has also helped me to understand better, why so many people fail to stop smoking. Usually people tend to explain that their urge to smoke was too much for them. It is true that the internal addict is a devious enemy. However, most of the people, who are trying to stop smoking, are their own worst enemies.

They have forgotten that starting smoking was easy. All they had to do was to smoke. Stopping smoking is hard, because dealing with physical withdrawal symptoms is not enough. If the psychological withdrawal symptoms are disregarded, it is likely that the person in question will feel that stopping smoking is impossible. It will still be hard, but understanding the reasons behind one’s urges will increase one’s motivation to deal with them.

And when one is facing a task like this, motivation is everything. It is the difference between success and failure.