Article From the Board

[MichelleDoesntSmokeAnymore]

"Quitting smoking is not hard.  In fact, the whole process is quite enjoyable if we only focus on the benefits of being a non-smoker.  There is no need to focus on anything else because we’re not giving anything up.   We’re not missing out.  The cravings come and go and soon will be gone forever."

 

I agree with everything in this statement, with the exception of "Quitting smoking is not hard". I find it extremely hard. If it was not hard, more people would have successful quits. The trick is to remember the rest of this quote.

 

Whats your take?

[Rozuki]

It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do! Now that I have some time under my belt, I hardly ever think about lighting a poison stick on fire and sticking it in my mouth. Currently, a friend is in the hospital suffering from lung cancer and doesn't have much time left...she quit smoking about 5-6 years before being diagnosed this past  April. The cancer metastasized to her brain....she is now a shell of her former self, is no longer verbal, cannot control bodily functions and needs round the clock care. To beat a crave, all I have to do is think about what she is going through...awful, awful, awful! 

[Paul723]

Attitude towards quitting can make it as hard or as easy as you'd like.  There is some physical discomfort as your body frees itself of nicotine and the rest of the tars, yuck.  This is to most the "hard" part.  After that, there is a period of retraining yourself mentally.  This can be hard or easy.  You have to reach the point of accepting that you are never going to smoke again, you're done with it.  All successful quitters get there in their own fashion and time.  The NOPE pledge is a training tool in this.

[Martian5]

Attitude is the focus.  Yes it is hard at the beginning but when the process has gone by for several months you can see how easy it has become, just put your mind to it and realize in the end it is the best thing that you can do!!!

[Christian99]

Quitting smoking was exceptionally hard for me--much harder, in fact, than I thought it would be, and I think I began the enterprise with relatively reasonable expectations.  But the rewards have also been exponentially greater than I ever imagined they could be--continuing to grow and help me even now, more than 17 1/2 years after my last cigarette (and about 16 years since my last craving of any kind).  A positive mindset is helpful, but if you're feeling miserable in the early weeks/months, that's OK.  Develop and trust a thoughtful and well-informed process that caters to your individual strengths, insist on absolute abstinence from smoking, and you WILL break through.  And when you do, I bet you'll be astonished at the ever-increasing benefits.  

 

Christian99

17 1/2 Years Quit

[Reciprocity]

It's hard in the beginning but what life changing thing isn't? What are you prepared to pay for your freedom? If this was war, you might be asked to pay with your life but quitting smoking won't cost nearly that steep a price.

 

Look to your smoke free future. It's that bright, shiny thing straight ahead of you. Don't ever look back because your smokey past is done ... over!

[jillar]

My take is that there was nothing easy or enjoyable about it. So glad to be past that first year!

[Sazerac]

It took a full year and change before I was grooving in my new normal.

There were gnarly moments but, I didn't care,

my commitment was unwavering and I was willing to go through anything in order to be free.

 

I really considered the process as an adventure and I love adventures so, that provided some impetus

plus, reading peoples stories helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel and celebrate little victories.

 

Learning about the Significance of Rewards was a great tool and v. fun, 'spoiling myself' for craves/triggers overcome.

It was an enjoyable technique that helped smooth the rough edges of a quit.

[Diane R]

Quitting  is awfully hard for me. I’m on Chantix and it is helping a lot but it doesn’t take away the habits I have formed over the decade I’ve smoked. 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Diane R

[Reciprocity]

What Sazerac said Diane  

" reading peoples stories helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel and celebrate little victories"

 

You can go backward on any pages on this forum and read people's stories and comments. You will be able to relate a lot of these comments to the feelings you're having with your own quit and then not only will you feel that you are not alone but you will come to believe that when others tell you it will get better then ..... it actually will. It just takes time is all. We are all the same. We go through the same process and providing we adhere to the NOPE principal, we all remain life long nonsmokers and are very comfortable as such  

[MichelleDoesntSmokeAnymore]

11 hours ago, Rozuki said:

It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do! Now that I have some time under my belt, I hardly ever think about lighting a poison stick on fire and sticking it in my mouth. Currently, a friend is in the hospital suffering from lung cancer and doesn't have much time left...she quit smoking about 5-6 years before being diagnosed this past  April. The cancer metastasized to her brain....she is now a shell of her former self, is no longer verbal, cannot control bodily functions and needs round the clock care. To beat a crave, all I have to do is think about what she is going through...awful, awful, awful! 

I am so very sorry. Its terrifying that she was quit years before she was diagnosed....

[notsmokinjo]

15 hours ago, Paul723 said:

All successful quitters get there in their own fashion and time

 

^ That!!!!!

 

Now, only 18 months later, I can't believe how easy it was... BUT that's bull, you read my posts from a year ago and it was hard...you read my posts from 16 months ago...Hooley Dooley I was crawling may way over broken glass, it was hard but each day it got a teeny tiny bit easier...I can't tell you the last time I thought I'd like a smoke, I don't remember...but it's kind of like childbirth (and if you've been there you will get this) during labour it's horrible, and painful, and you swear never, ever again because it can be hell but you see that bub and before long your thinking you could have another... Not because it wasn't hard but because once your through it it doesn't seem as hard as it was.

 

Honestly this was the easiest quit I have had because I didn't focus on how long it would last etc I just worried about one day...committed to not smoking for 1 day...woke up in the morning and committed again...I just cared about that one day, here and now, not a week or a month or a year just one day.

 

And I laughed...laughed and laughed watched so much crap on you tube... comedians, people trying to understand Aussie slang..stupid stuff...but you know what laughing does, it releases endorphins....wanna know what they are...they are your bodies natural feel happy hormones...makes the hard stuff easier.

[sgt.barney]

Two groups of people tell The Big Fat Lie:
Successful Quitters: Boy that was THE HARDEST THING I ever did. I'll never do that again ...
Failed Quitter: Shit, that was TOO DAMNED HARD. I'll never make it. 

Don't believe 'em, folks. 

Quitting is as easy or as hard as you choose to make it. 
It is, indeed, a choice. 
You can choose to embrace The Suck and be happy about it ...
... or you can fight it the whole way and live a life of difficult misery.

The Suckage Level is gonna be high at times for all of us. It's what makes us addicts.
The Big Choice is in how we react and keep drivin' on to The Goal. 
We can make it easy on ourselves. 
We can make it hard on ourselves.  

It's as easy or as hard as we make it. 

EZPZ

[Doreensfree]

Sorry to hear about your friend @Rozuki....sending prayers ....

 

We are all different ..some take the nice quick route to Quit ...some of us take the slower route ...it's just about getting there ..in your own time ...

When I first Quit ,I thought it was very hard ...but not as hard as amputation....

Not as hard as spending time on a oxygen machine 16 hours a day ....

Whatever you are feeling Michelle ..is all Temporary ...and will pass ....

[Mee]

This lady never thought quitting was going to happen.

Here I am at 11 months smoke free and the thoughts of smoking again are a thing of the past.

I know it was very difficult for about two months.  I was very crabby and difficult to live with.  

Now I feel more free and know I will never visit this part of my life again.  

I love to see the newbies appear and help them to find the same freedom.  

[NADA]

I'm a very practical and scientific person (maybe even a little cynical).  I could never convince myself that it was all about my state of mind, and it could be as easy or as hard as I wanted it to be.  For me it was HARD.  Is there a way I can emphasis that word even more?  I felt that I had a real knot in my stomach for a long time.  It was like a physical kick in the gut and a non-stop mental obsession.

But despite it being really difficult, I did it.  I truly think if you go all in, there is nothing in this world that will prevent you from achieving your goals.  And the good news with quitting smoking is that time and distance do eventually erase the desire and make the quality of your life so much better.

So, easy or hard, it can be done.  It really must be done.

[Lust4Life]

I read Alien Carr’s Easy Way book. It helped.  What helped me the most was really adopting the philosophy/ mantra of this forum. Not one puff...  I became quite the fan of an old poster on another forum & adopted his way of thinking.  Just make it through the day until my head hits the pillow. Wake up and say to yourself. I did it! I’m going to do it again.  Then do it.  

 

For most- myself included- it sucked. Hard.  But when I fought like mad all day & made it to my pillow smoke-free another day. The joy of completing another smoke free day far outweighed the agony of fighting monster craves.  

 

Post SOS when needed. It works.  So does NOPT/NOPE 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Lust4Life

[Boo]

I wouldn't call the early stages of my quit "hard", more irritating than anything.  Dealing with the quitter's paradox: "I don't want to be a smoker but I would like to smoke a cigarette right now."  Those persistent, nagging thoughts about smoking.  The self-doubt and internal bargaining and negotiating...yeah, the beginning of the process was a pain in the ass.  Worth every bit of the effort and then some, but irritating.

 

I didn't really focus on the "hard" or "easy."  I stayed focused on the word "simple."  Don't put things in your mouth and set them on fire...this process could not be more simple.