The first time I smoked was when I was 13. This became a 7-year-long daily habit before the first time I quit. I was tobacco free for about 2 years, then I started smoking again for another 2 years. After that, I quit again. I started and quit two more times, and now, at age 30, I've been smoke-free for years. I decided I will never start again because it's just stupid to do it, especially when it's so easy to quit. For me, it's nothing more than about 3 days of moodiness and cravings. As those cravings come up, I ensure that I don't let my mind linger on any thoughts about a sense of satisfaction from smoking, nor rationalize my way into "just one more." Instead, I refocus and shift my thoughts. When the cravings are the most intense...I feel a sense of angry willpower: I refuse to allow some inanimate object to control me, I refuse to allow the Tobacco industry to profit from destroying my health/life. I basically take a few moments to think about these kinds of things, and I imagine myself basically giving the greedy Tobacco industry a big middle finger. This is sort of just my overall personality, I am defiant that way against the damages from my past abuses and such as well (both parents were narcissistic, my only sibling was sexually abusive, and I was heavily isolated to that environment while otherwise largely unsocialized, even with extended family...I've had a ton of work to do to grow beyond the damages, and this defiance against their impact on me is how I've just always been). Defiant, rebellious, divergent thinker, stubborn, strong-willed, etc. are all personality traits of mine, although I use them in positive ways. Stubbornly adhering to good things, rebelling against oppressive forces, things like this. I am a lot like "Spirit," from the horse movie, personality wise. Anyway, aside from that, I refocus/reshift my thoughts onto the alternatives I want and the advantages to quitting. No more nasty smell, healthier teeth/skin/etc., living a healthier/longer life for my future kids I haven't yet had, etc. I imagine things such as dying without getting to see my kid get married, or I think about the years of my grandkids' lives I might miss (if I have them). I think about all those disadvantages to smoking and the advantages to not smoking. By the time I get up and return to my day after thinking, I've got a fire in my eyes and there's no way I'm giving any of that up to the greedy pockets of the Tobacco industry, and my cravings dwindle as the determination outweighs it.
Why is it easy for me to quit smoking cigarettes, when most people never overcome it? Is this just willpower? My dad and I are both incredibly strong-willed people, and he also used to smoke and then quit. Is it some kind of genetic predisposition I have to being this way? Is it just a mindset thing? The technique of reframing / shifting my focus? The belief that I can do it? That my desire for what I gain from quitting outweighs my desire for immediate gratification (scales tipping so that reward-based motivational factor falls more to that side than the other)? Conscious thought control? Personality? Or, perhaps, there's a combination of things?
Can any of this help others who are facing tobacco addiction? Can anyone who applies these techniques do this?
Why is it easy for me to quit smoking cigarettes, when most people never overcome it? Is this just willpower? My dad and I are both incredibly strong-willed people, and he also used to smoke and then quit. Is it some kind of genetic predisposition I have to being this way? Is it just a mindset thing? The technique of reframing / shifting my focus? The belief that I can do it? That my desire for what I gain from quitting outweighs my desire for immediate gratification (scales tipping so that reward-based motivational factor falls more to that side than the other)? Conscious thought control? Personality? Or, perhaps, there's a combination of things?
Can any of this help others who are facing tobacco addiction? Can anyone who applies these techniques do this?
