I just realized that it's been five years since I've used this program to stop smoking and I needed to share it with someone! Who better to share it with than the people who help me quit five years ago?
Before I became addicted to smoking (High School days), I used to think that people who smoked lacked the will and discipline to quit. In other words, I had no respect for the additive nature of cigarettes and thought it would be easy to quit if a person really wanted to. Little did I know how wrong I was!
I started smoking a few years later because some of the people I hung around with smoked and ultimately the habit simply rubbed off on me. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to smoke periodically when I was out with the group (I wanted to fit in) but soon I was smoking all the time. My lack of respect for addictions had let me straight into an addiction I couldn't control. I tried to quit a few times but could never seem to follow through and quit for good. Every time I quit, I found a reason to resume smoking within a day or two. Fortunately, I found this site and quite cold turkey five years ago.
About a three moths after I quit, I tried a cigarette again and it was a surprising experience. In my mind, smoking was a relaxing and satisfying event but smoking now seemed unfamiliar and disgusting, much like the first time I ever tried a cigarette. I mention this story because I had thought that smoking would stalk me ever day of my life and that it would be easy for me to relapse but after a while, the urge to smoke had gone away. So much so that how I remembered smoking was very different that what smoking actually was.
Looking back now, I wish I had been able to do it sooner and I wish that I had not been so foolish about addictions. Smoking is a powerful addiction but you can break free. Each day you quit makes the next day easier and the reward is well worth the struggle. Good luck to all of you and Happy Easter!
