Keep It Simple

[Boo]

I was talking to a friend last night.  He's flirting with the idea of quitting, but is currently doing the ol' procrastination two-step.  He calls it "preparation."  He is nervous and has a lot of questions and is getting himself worked up over hypothetical scenarios, most of which will never come to pass.  "How did you quit" he asked.  My reply: "I stopped putting cigarettes in my mouth and setting them on fire."

 

How do you quit...you just quit.  There are things you can do to facilitate and foster your quit (education, support, etc.), but the act of quitting hardly even qualifies as an act.  You don't have to do anything.  You simply refrain from doing something that you used to do.  Simple.

 

Make a pledge to yourself not to smoke cigarettes.  Make good on that pledge everyday.  Congratulations, you're a non-smoker now.

[Doreensfree]

Great post..

I threw away hundreds of past quits..I now know why...

I was treating it ,like the dance the hokey kokey..I always had one foot in and one foot out..

This time I put my whole self in..I made the decision no matter what was going on..

No matter how I felt..I WOULD NOT SMOKE...

You make a choice and stick to it..never take another puff..

[Boo]

Great post..

I threw away hundreds of past quits..I now know why...

I was treating it ,like the dance the hokey kokey..I always had one foot in and one foot out..

This time I put my whole self in..I made the decision no matter what was going on..

No matter how I felt..I WOULD NOT SMOKE...

You make a choice and stick to it..never take another puff..

 

That's it.  The sole focus of a quit should be quitting.

 

I see and hear a lot of questions from new quitters that basically amount to: am I doing it right?  

 

Did you smoke today?  No...you're aces.  Yes...you screwed it up, start over.

[Jenny]

Love this post.   It really isn't complicated, all you have to do is not smoke.  Ever.  No matter what.  

[Reciprocity]

Yeah - you're so right about this. It's all about just doing it (quitting that is). It's not complicated. You just stop smoking - da!! The problem I think is like your friend, we tend to over think the whole process and that's when the horrible doubts start entering into the equation, especially if we are planning it like we would plan a vacation or some other special event in our lives.

 

I had thought of quitting for probably 20 years. "I know I really should but ........ Well Christmas is coming and I don't want to be grumpy at Christmas ........ Summer is here and quitting now would ruin my summer fun. I mean, the list of excuses goes on and on. I'm sure you've all spoken most of them to yourselves at some point or other. For me, I don't know what it was exactly but when I decided to quit, it just seemed to happen naturally for me. I mean, it started as a realization one particular day that what I was doing was crazy and would most likely lead to my early demise. I quit the next day without any real planning and I felt even then that I just had to do this no matter what I would be confronted with. It almost immediately became a self challenge. Myself against the addiction (which I didn't even realize smoking was at the time - it was just a "habit").

 

I didn't really know if I would make it but I felt that I could. I was determined to do it. Every time I was close to giving up in the early part of my quit I reflected on where I was Jan. 28th (day before I quit) and where I had come to at that point and how hard it had been to get there. I just couldn't throw that all away. If I did, I somehow I knew I would never quit. I had to do this 1st time out of the gate or I would be lost to a shorter life filled with smoking.

 

Then I found this support site and that, unknown to me at the time, was the last piece to my puzzle. The perfect ingredient found at the perfect time for me. So far, I'm good. I still have work to do but as I have noticed since the back half of the first month of my quit, things really do get better and easier with time. It's so very slow that you can't perceive that it's actually happening but it is. Slowly, very slowly, it all becomes easier and the challenges become less frequent and easier to deal with.

 

That's the simple key to it all. Just commit to your quit completely from the start; keep that commitment as you struggle through the tough times early on and rely on others for your support.

[robrr44]

Did you smoke today? No...you're aces. Yes...you screwed it up, start over.

LOVE THIS!!! Made me laugh out loud for reals!

[Feely]

This is a great read for me today. I'm starting over and this is day 2. I wanted very much to stop smoking, but didn't really commit. I thought that i did, but I fell.

 

Thank you

[Doreensfree]

You can do it feely...you just have to commit 100/%....

Never take another puff....no matter what...

[Feely]

Thank you. This has been a real learning experience for me. I thought that I was committed. I really did. I thought that I was ready.

 

Then one night, it was like a switch went off and I wanted to smoke. I threw away a week and now am on my second day. 

 

SMOKING IS NOT AN OPTION for me. I can't smoke, and I don't want to.

[babs609]

Thank you. This has been a real learning experience for me. I thought that I was committed. I really did. I thought that I was ready.

 

Then one night, it was like a switch went off and I wanted to smoke. I threw away a week and now am on my second day. 

 

SMOKING IS NOT AN OPTION for me. I can't smoke, and I don't want to.

 

that's exactly it Feely.  I remember once I took smoking off the table...my quit was doable.  No matter what...I wasn't going to smoke.  Not an option.  Pick something else but smoking is just not an option.

[Boo]

Yeah - you're so right about this. It's all about just doing it (quitting that is). It's not complicated. You just stop smoking - da!! The problem I think is like your friend, we tend to over think the whole process and that's when the horrible doubts start entering into the equation, especially if we are planning it like we would plan a vacation or some other special event in our lives.

 

Paralysis by analysis...I bought the ticket and took that ride.  I think there's a part of us that wants the process to be complicated.  It gratifies the ego and gives us an easy out.  That moment you realize the simplicity of it all, everything comes into clear view and there's no turning back.

 

SMOKING IS NOT AN OPTION for me. I can't smoke, and I don't want to.

 

And there it is...When you take away smoking as an option, there's really no point in having any internal debates about smoking.  You don't do that anymore.

 

Commit to the path and you'll find your way.

[Feely]

And there it is...When you take away smoking as an option, there's really no point in having any internal debates about smoking.  You don't do that anymore.

 

 

Thank you. for that. It's off the table now. 

[robrr44]

You can do this Feely!!! I can definitely tell a difference for me this time in that I have mentally committed to smoking NOT being an option. I went cold turkey and after 18 days know that I am nicotine free. Any desire to smoke is a mental, habitual thing. Not physical. It's a passing fleeting thought. My quit can only be broken by one thing. One puff. No drag, no cigar, no dip, no vape. My only option is to avoid nicotine at all costs. I'll shove an entire fried chicken or pizza in my mouth before I put nicotine there.

 

You. Can. Do. This.

[Feely]

Thank you for the response! I am on patches. My doctor insisted. She would have a cow if I ditched them. 40 year heavy smoker.

 

Like I've said, I have learned so much from these boards, and a lot of it did not make sense at all to me, but it's sinking in. For real.

 

I read Allen Carr and watched the video today, which, btw, was much better. Smoking is just not an option for me anymore. Period.

[Reciprocity]

Keep reading & watching Feely. The more you read, the more you'll understand and the easier it will be to rationalize this quitting thing. We are always here routing for you too :)

[Feely]

I thank you kindly, sir.

[bakon]

Simpler. NOPE