Quitting Smoking

Smoking was once my favorite hobby, my guilty pleasure, and my stress relief. I was an unusual smoker, in that I didn't start until I was eighteen. I smoked from eighteen to twenty six, with a couple breaks during that time. I won't say that ultimately quitting was the easiest thing, but it was not as awful as I imagined it to be. I quit smoking for a couple reasons. My state passed a sin tax, raising the price of cigarettes substantially. i don't mind paying taxes, but I have an objection to sin taxes. During the autumn of 2006 I also had a personal health crisis that was extremely stressful. I told my doctor if he could tell me I wasn't deathly ill, I would quit smoking.

When I made the decision to quit, I didn't pick a specific day or time as a deadline. I just used up the last of the cigarettes I had on hand. Not thinking that I was under a deadline relieved some of the stress and anticipation of what I was about to do. I did quit cold turkey. I did not use any gum or patches. Getting through the physical withdrawal was fairly simple for me. I had some headaches, I was cranky, but it passed. Personally, I would find it far harder to give up caffeine than nicotine. At the time I had also started taking Wellbutrin. One of the side effects of the medication was that it changed the way my cigarettes tasted and reduced the impact of nicotine. I've read that many doctors are starting to use Wellbutrin as a way for people to stop smoking. In my situation, I felt it helped me quit smoking faster and more successfully.

The physical aspect of quitting smoking was easy for me. My struggle came with the psychological aspects of quitting smoking. I didn't want to be a sanctimonious ex-smoker. I didn't know what to do with my hands anymore. What would go with my coffee now? Playing cards without smoking was extremely awkward. I missed smoking while stuck in traffic, or waiting in various places. I would constantly find myself gesturing with a pen or putting it in my mouth as if it were a cigarette. These actions had become so ingrained in me that it was hard to stop them. Even more than a year later, I still sometimes find myself holding an invisible cigarette when I'm talking, writing or playing cards. Much of the advice on how to quit smoking talks about chewing gum or sucking on hard candies. It makes sense, as smoking is an oral activity. But in my experience, when I quit smoking the most difficult part was finding something else to do with my hands.

During this time, my friends were still smoking. I never asked them not to smoke around me, or to change their behavior. This was my decision and I had to work through finding a way to not smoke and be around my smoking friends. This turned into a positive thing for me. Rather than focusing on what I couldn't have, I was able to say that each time I played cards or went out and did not smoke, I was successful. I think if I had avoided being around smoking, it would have made the situation much more difficult. Smoking would have been much more tempting. Quitting smoking requires a lot of willpower. You have to really want to do it, or it won't work. I focused on short periods of time, one work day, one night out, one week at a time. It was stressful at times. I felt awkward standing around outside during breaks at work, not knowing what to do if I wasn't smoking.

Quitting smoking meant giving up a habit. Finding another habit to replace it was tricky. It would be easy to end up chewing my fingernails or pulling out my hair. At the time, I was working at an extremely stressful job. I found that physically exhausting activities helped curb my urge and desire to smoke. They also ended up defusing stress and helping me relax. I reorganized my bedroom and moved all the furniture a couple times. I took long walks around the gigantic office building where I worked. I tried to see how many crunches my lazy body could do. It didn't matter what it was, so long as it required effort and concentration that might have been spent wanting to smoke.

I quite smoking more than a year ago. During that time, I have had a few cigarettes. They were not very satisfying, and I regretted smoking them later. I have not felt the urge to take up smoking again. Sometimes I miss it, as illogical as that sounds. Sometimes I say to myself that I want one cigarette, but I don't act on the impulse. I go do something else instead. Quitting smoking is no picnic. But it is not like quitting heroin, climbing a mountain or flying to the moon. It is hard, and sometimes unpleasant. It can be done though. There are lots of resources, from your doctor to the internet, that have information on different ways to quit. The important part to being successful is finding the willpower and desire in yourself to do it.