Quit by Choice | Page 10

Get Real

Are you about to quit smoking — again?

Did you give up smoking some time ago and manage to stay quit for a while, but then, for some odd reason, start smoking again?

Have you promised your family you’re going to give up smoking again but you’re scared to try because you don’t really want to?

And are you planning to use some form of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) like you did the last time, because you found it to be such a big help back then (maybe even too much of a help, as you found yourself using it for a lot longer than the recommended 6 to 8 week "treatment" period)?
Continue reading Get Real

Talking Back to the Inner Junkie

Have you ever felt unsure about being in control of your own thoughts? Like your mind is divided; one side wanting to stay free and the other seeming to be actively looking for excuses to relapse? This is not at all uncommon, and it may be helpful to think of yourself as two separate people: "you" and your "inner junkie":
Continue reading Talking Back to the Inner Junkie

Imagine Yourself Whole

Have you ever wondered, “How am I supposed to relax (or “unwind” or “concentrate” or whatever) now that I’ve quit smoking?” I think a lot of us imagine that there’s this hole in our lives that smoking used to fill, and we wonder what we’re going to use to fill that hole with now that we don’t smoke any more.

Continue reading Imagine Yourself Whole

Beware

Has this ever happened to you? You’ve been quit for some time — maybe even a fairly long time, like a year — and you think you’ve pretty much got it all under control; you rarely even think about smoking any more. Then, one day, you walk by the smoking area at work, or you see a group of friends standing together smoking, and, instead of feeling sorry for them, you want to join them.

Continue reading Beware

Be Responsible

I’m often asked a question like, “What do you do when you slip and smoke a couple of cigarettes?” The person who asks this question will usually go on to explain that it wasn’t their fault; they’d run out of meds, or they couldn’t get patches until the next day, and their husband or wife wasn’t being very supportive…

Continue reading Be Responsible