Is Quitting Smoking Really As Hard As They Say?

I have heard it over and over again. Quitting smoking was the hardest thing that some person on TV ever had to do. Or, sometimes people will say that they just are not ready to quit yet. I know how absurd that sounds, because I used to say it too. I would say that I could quit smoking any time I wanted, but I hadn’t yet because I did not want to. Truth, I really did not want to, but you know what happened when I did? I quit, and it really was not the hardest thing I ever had to do!

I want to talk a little bit about what I did have to go through, though, and how I dealt with the seemingly never-ending urge to light back up. No matter how hard it was to quit smoking though, I have quit some other vices in my life that made quitting smoking look like a piece of cake.

This is significant section of this study. A few years ago I was living by myself, so I could do basically whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to do it. One of those things was smoking. My girlfriend had lived out-of-state at that time, and she was a serious non-smoker, so when she would come to visit, I would always stop during the visits. If I did not completely stop, I would at least cut down to one a day while she was here.

psychotherapist in this video.

Well, when she moved out here from out-of-state, she brought 2 kids with her, and rather than explain to someone why I did something that was so gross, stinky and expensive, I simply quit. I did not take a pill, put on a patch or chew any gum. I just stopped doing the bad habit.

I had smoked for about fifteen years or so, so I was as addicted as you could get to smoking, but for some reason I just did not find it the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. I think that when people find excuses for continuing to smoke, they’re really saying that they do not want to quit.

Where I live, you could smoke almost everywhere you went. Bars, restaurants, and practically anywhere else you would ever go, smoking seemed to be allowed on some level. As things changed and you could no longer smoke where food was being served, it became more and more annoying to smoke. As a smoker, I know that a lot of people think that the annoyance is with the laws, but it is not. Now I cannot stand to walk past somebody that smokes, because of the smell alone.

So what is my big secret for quitting this so-called “hardest thing to quit” that everyone talks about?

Embarrassment!

I find it embarrassing now to think that my fingers used to have that awful smell that does not wash off. To think that I would go places and people could smell the stale stench of cigarettes on my clothes makes me feel dirty just to think about it. Also, I was now living with two kids that do not think smoke smells very good, and nobody wants to be the only person in a room that reeks of odor.

Certainly, I did not have to do anything magical. I did not have to go through any serious withdrawals, except for maybe a few days of grumpiness, but nothing severe at all. I did not go into fits, and I certainly did not become a lunatic. What I did do was save a whole lot of money, and I now have to wash my hands about 20 less times a day, since my fingers do not smell of stale smoke anymore.

If you’re looking to quit smoking, and you’re discouraged, keep at it. I know that everybody is different, and that some people really have a hard time compared to me. I also know that I’ve a very addictive personality, and quitting something for me is never an easy task, yet I still managed.

Quitting smoking was one of the best things I’ve ever done, and now as I run on the treadmill, I wonder what the appeal ever was in the first place, but it is not too late for me to enjoy some healthy living habits in live.