"As an example to others, and not that I care for moderation myself, it has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain when awake." So said Mark Twain, and I have adhered to that same policy for 30 years. I’m a smokaholic! But today, I decided to quit.
That last statement is not strictly accurate, I actually decided to give up smoking before Christmas, and set a date of February 1st. But, then I got all stressed out over these dental problems, and the date got deferred to March 1st. The dental treatment isn’t over yet, I still have to go back for more tooth grinding to correct my bite, but I figured continuing to smoke will only exacerbate the gum disease. So I’m biting the bullet, well, not exactly, I’ve actually stuck on one of those nicotine patches, and am trying to give up.
Mark Twain understood a lot about smoking, "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it hundreds of times." Twain was quite right, it is easy to give up, it’s not starting again that’s the problem. I can’t say I’ve tried to quit hundreds of times, but a few. I’ve tried nicotine gum and patches several times, I’ve been prescribed pills by the doctor, I’ve even tried hypnosis, but I’ve always started again.
The reason I always cave in is because I really enjoy smoking. On previous occasions when I’ve quit I do okay at first, but after a few months I start thinking about the torment of years without a cigarette, and then I snap. Once again Mark Twain was right on the money when he said, "...when they used to tell me I would shorten my life ten years by smoking, they little knew the devotee they were wasting their puerile words upon -- they little knew how trivial and valueless I would regard a decade that had no smoking in it!"
Today, I’m finding it very difficult to string a sentence together, I can’t write without a cigarette smoldering in the ashtray. I keep getting up and wandering listlessly around the house, gazing out of the window, fiddling with pens and pencils, molding a piece of silly putty. Nothing satisfies, because there is something missing from my life. It’s not that I’m craving nicotine, because this patch is feeding me a regular dose of that, but I am craving the simple pleasure of smoking. That’s because I’m an addict. Addictions, however, can be broken, and I am determined to do the best I can to break mine. Wish me luck.
An Award
Finally I must apologize to Josephine over at http://abritintn.blogspot.com/ she very kindly gave me this award and I am only now getting around to posting about it. I’m such a slacker! Thank you so much Josephine, I appreciate your passing it along to me. I’m going to pass the award onto Pam at http://pamokc.blogspot.com/
Toodle pip for now.
11 comments:
Wishing you luck, will-power and congrats
good luck with the quitting. YOu can do it. I love eating too but when I reached 18stone it was time to quit that habit. I now weigh two stone less, and by the end of this year I will be eight stone five pounds lighter.
We can do it together!!
Thanks Jan! I accept this award! Stick with the quitting of smoking, I hope you can do it. I lost both my parents to smoking related illness (in fact, I rebelled in my family by NOT smoking) ... I have always heard it is the act of it, not the smoking of it ... I suppose substituting those little lolly pops don't help at the dentist either!
Good Luck with the quitting...
I've never had to face it, because I've never took up the habit, but my hubbie says it would be like telling me to give up drinking tea, and see how that feels....
Point taken ;)
Award looks fitting !
Yes congratulations. It is a hard thing to do. I quit years ago. I won't tell you it was easy because it wasn't but if I can do it - I was so hooked - then you can too. And if you slip and take a puff, don't beat yourself up about it, just jump right back on that horse and keep going :) Hope the dental problems are easing too.
Jan, I struggled with cigarettes for a long time and finally became a non smoker...not even a single drag for over two years. What realy helped me was a book on tape called - The Easy Way To Quit Smoking by Allen Carr. Rent it from the library and listen to it - I promise, it will help you look at cigarettes in a different way.
Good luck - I am rooting for you.
congrats on getting the award, and all the best of luck on quitting smoking....
Gill in Canada
Thanks for stopping by this week! I promise to get that award up soon. Much appreciated.
My dearly beloved smokes, and swears it's the actions, the lighting of the cigarette, the holding of it, that keep him at it. He smokes Carltons, the ones with basically no tar and nicotine (he says they're like smoking sticks). I sympathise with your desires. I hope it's going well; a good friend who's usually a recovering alcoholic says kicking the booze is so much easier than kicking the butts...but he's trying it again this year, too!
Smoking is a very much bad habbit.One should leave it if they are addicted.Nice written post.
Connecticut Drug Rehab
a little piece of advice: try and use
eSmoke technology in order to quit easier. The transition is easy to made and the feeling is almost the same with the "real deal".
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