How I Quit Smoking: A Guide For Those Who Want to Quit

At exactly 5.30 am the alarm sounded and its shrill sound made me jerk out of slumber. Like any other morning, half asleep, my hand reached for the pack of cigarettes kept on the bedside table. I took out a cigarette, put it in my mouth and was just about to light it when I saw my 8 year old son standing in the doorway, his hair disheveled, rubbing his eye and holding his favorite teddy, maybe the sound of alarm woke him too. His first words were; "Dad you promised me that you will quit smoking from today."

I have been smoking since the age of 16 and today I completed 28. The evening before, in a fit of emotion I promised my 8 year old that I would quit smoking from tomorrow, my 28th birthday. How happy that promise made him. I grew up around smokers and very well remember how I hated the cigarette smell. I was determined not to smoke ever. But with time and other factors, I too picked up smoking. Like me, my son hated the cigarette smell, which was always in abundance whenever I was around. Due to my smoking habits, a gap was beginning to build between us. But how could I explain to that innocent little creature that it was not possible to give up smoking in an instant. Before I could say anything, my wife lying beside me said, "You promised him." At that moment, love for my family overpowered my urge to smoke and threw the cigarette in the dustbin.

I wanted to quit smoking for my family and believed that my love for them would give me ample strength for it. So on my 28th birthday I finally said, "I'm done smoking" and threw all my cigarettes in the trash can. Its easier said than done..........quitting was not easy; in fact it was really torturous. It is said that when trying to quit smoking, the first few days are the hardest. For me they were hell. The urge to smoke was so overpowering that the tiniest thing would make me overreact and fly off the handle. I won't lie; my family was the one who encountered most of my wrath. I was getting worse. I became depressed, couldn't work, sleep or concentrate, was restless and grumpy. Still, my family never complained and always helped in every way they could. I too used all the means at my disposal to help me quit smoking. I went to a smoking cessation counselor, used patches and ate food whenever I felt the urge to smoke (due to which I put on a lot of weight).

I have not smoked a single cigarette for over 2 years now. Many people ask me how I gave up smoking and I proudly say it's all thanks to my loving and caring family. I worked out to shrug off the weight I gained and now I am in pretty good shape. You don't realize until you have given up smoking how much people that smoke lose. They not only smell bad but also put themselves at all kinds of health risks and their families suffer too. Today, it's quite embarrassing to think that once I was like them too!