Breaking the habit
I'm 2 days from being at 6 weeks. The first 4 weeks seemed a breeze. However the last 2 have been a struggle but only late at night. This is when my mind wonders thinking about work and other stresses, I then get angry and start thinking about having just one! No shops are open therefore I would have to go to the servo and pay a fortune for a pack, just to have one. But then again it would only be a once off and that would be ok, wouldn't it? Then I think about buying a cheaper pack the next morning from the local tobacconist and keeping it as a just in case. Then.....I think about how the first cig would make me feel sick as it has when I quit twice before....but then if I powered through the first one I would need to light up a second one which would taste much better and thats what I'm looking for. I ask myself, will I feel guilty? Why should I feel guilty as it's only a couple of cigs? Could I really stop at one or two? Would it really matter if I smoked the pack...I'll stop again after that. Thankfully by the next morning I'm over it and glad I didn't go through with my plan. This has happened a few times over the last 2 weeks and I'm sure I'm headed for a few more episodes. You would think that the worst is over after 6 weeks but I think that temptation may hang around for a very long time.
This is my third and hopefully last time quitting as a smoker of over 20 years and the experience has been different every time and thankfully nicotine withdrawal was never a big problem. However this is the first time I have had to battle the habits that I have created with smoking; morning coffee, after a good meal, thinking of it as a friend, when stressed. What an effort! Funny how the mind works.
Good on you !! yep for some its the nicotine, for some its habit and or social "pressure" or whatever. none that easy hey, especially as you said, that dam mind of ours sometimes doesn't stop, but apparently there are ways to change its "mindset" :) I am going through same thoughts tonight, do I or don't I, just one. makes it harder, hubby smokes, isn't giving up, smoke same brand.And yeah that GUILT is there, so NO is my answer. we fight with our inner talk all the time, hope your POSITIVE inner talk wins each time. Ive changed what I drink, that has helped.
Hi MJ45, I had that incredible anger at two and three weeks and I ended up ringing the quit line. The guy explained to me that this whole process is about forming NEW HABITS, sounds simple but you have to replace all those triggers for darts with something new and I read that it takes over 60 days to form a new habit. For me after dinner I make a cup of tea and flick through a magazine. Before bed I apply a bit of hand cream sooo you need to come up with new rituals to replace those old ones or you will continue with that anger and frustration.i also pick up the iPad and research something that I want to incorporate in the new me. There is some good stuff about forming new habits on the web.thats why we give up because we want to move in a new direction and be a different person with new interests. Food for thought. Hang in there as you are going soooo well. Xxx
I feel where you are coming from....There are always cigarettes in the house here, because my husband and son both smoke. On my third day off cigarettes, I actually stood there with a cigarette in my hand, ready to light up. I didn't do it. No one would have known, But I would have cheated on myself. After dinner, I start clearing up straight away, or I brush my teeth, or I write an email, or I read my book, or I look at this site...I have found this site such a help. Keep strong. If you smoke a cigarette, you'll only get angrier.