check_green323877414_0fccdaa706_mDon’t try to pretend it doesn’t hurt to stop smoking nicotine or that you don’t want to smoke. It does  hurt and you do want to smoke.

That’s what we have to deal with. Get clear on this.

It does hurt and you do want a cigarette. But that is not the problem anymore.

You have decided not to smoke. Period. So you now have a new problem to manage.

The pain and the attraction toward smoking. That’ s what you have to deal with and there are some excellent ways to do it. Think of it like this. You are about to fall from a high roof and you wince at the thought of possibly breaking a leg. A broken leg hurts. But once it’ s broken, whether or not it will break is of no concern. It’ s broken.

Now you have to manage the fact that it is broken. The pain, the care and how you are going to get around, become the things to manage.

Same with smoking. Once you have decided to quit on a specific day, that’ s it. The decision is made. You are now going to deal with the new challenges that come with that decision. Anxiety, pain, emotions, cravings , the whole list that appears. You must become aware of these challenges and deal with them all, and remember you are not allowed to deal with them by smoking. That must be absolutely settled and I mean absolutely. That door is welded shut and bricked over.

Decades ago the Japanese beetle was a threat to American trees and crops. There was a flurry of high level agricultural meetings on how to stop this threat. Finally, the decision was made. There’s no way to stop the influx of beetles. So, the new, more realistic problem became how to cope with it successfully. That’ s what you are doing. You are now coping with the aftermath of being smoke free. This is something you will do for the rest of your life and it becomes second nature. Actually it becomes first nature—to play with words here. It is reflexive or, first nature, NOT to smoke and second or third nature to smoke.

When a quit smoking facilitator told me to suck on hard candy to calm the urge to smoke I wanted to slap her across the room. What an idiot to think that a piece of candy could do that. It cannot. But it can make a slight dent in the oral fixation . I eventually realized it does help some. Every slight blip on the radar helps, so use them all. The goal is to stop smoking. Not to be a little angel in every aspect of your life.

You are actually saving a life here! Don’t lose sight of that in a moment of slight discomfort or even great discomfort. You are saving your own life! Look into local massage services to help relieve tensions.

  • Meditate,
  • use a straw or gum,
  • take two to ten walks a day,
  • drink water,
  • have coffee,
  • go to a movie.

Do any of these things that are not triggers to smoke. Recognize that you are out of your comfort zone and give yourself a break.

It hurts to stop smoking nicotine.

Something is trying to tell you there’ s an imbalance so, ultimately that’s a great thing. Something is not in its usual balance. It’s why spoiled food smells awful as a warning not to eat it.

In this case, feeling off kilter means your systems are working just fine. Keep moving ahead. Recognize that you do want to smoke. But, you have made the quality decision to be free and that will take paying this price. Very small in comparison. You are saving a life with this bit of confusion. One more bit of mind trickery: What if you get hit by a bus tomorrow and this was all for nothing? That won’ t happen but if it did you would have lived your last day with a higher quality of life. Congratulations. You can stop smoking nicotine.

Here is more information about quitting smoking from Healthline.com

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Filed under: How To Stop Nicotine

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