Quit Smoking
by: Mike Mor
Consider this:
Already since 1972, over 60 million people in the USA alone have
successfully quit smoking!
At one stage over 60% of the adult population was addicted to
this drug. Today it is 28% and dropping.
Now, isn't this a fair thought.
If all these people can do it (60 MILLION OF THEM!) - and they
include EVERY TYPE of person imaginable - surely that is PROOF
that IT IS POSSIBLE to successfully quit smoking.
Here's another Fact.
We now know from the latest scientific research, that although
nicotine is one of the world's fastest acting drugs --- the actual
PHYSICAL withdrawal pangs when you give up ARE SO MILD, YOU WILL
HARDLY BE AWARE of THEM WHEN YOU STOP.
YES, you have read that sentence right!
I know you will want to argue with me on this point, but, first,
let me first make the following points.
The Desire to Smoke
Yes, when you stop smoking you will feel the desire AGAIN and
AGAIN to smoke.
We all know that feeling -- 'I must have a cigarette'. But that
desire in itself is not bad or painful.
It is just a feeling, a sensation we feel in our body.
However........this is where, for most of us our problems start.
If we start to fear that 'craving' or try to use 'Willpower'
to REPRESS it or FORCE it go away, -- "I wish this feeling
would go away" we WILL create pain and tension.
This is what as smokers we have all done in the past.
That 'feeling' of wanting to smoke then becomes painful, annoying
and terribly irritating.
Now this is the hard part to realize.
The pain, the horror does not come from the desire to smoke,
but from HOW we deal with this desire, moment-by-moment WHEN we
stop.
Can I emphasize this.
You do not have to experience ANY pain or agony when you stop.
Yes, when you stop you WILL experience a.
Temporary feeling of loss
A feeling that you are being deprived of something
A feeling of emptiness
A feeling that you will never be able to enjoy yourself again.
A feeling that you must have a cigarette
These feelings, although very real in themselves are not inherently
bad or painful. What is important is how you deal with these feelings
when you QUIT SMOKING.
The key part of quitting smoking naturally is learning how to
deal with these cravings when you stop.
Conflict
Right now, you don't want to give up smoking because you are
TERRIFIED of how you will FEEL when you can't smoke.
Let's be honest.
You smoke now because you enjoy it.
Or -- to be more accurate: You smoke now because you have conditioned
yourself to enjoy it.
It is important that we are honest with ourselves here.
In fact, even the 'THOUGHT', the mere 'thought' of not been able
to smoke probably fills you with complete dread now.
But there is another undeniable fact: This 'pleasure' is killing
you. Again we must be brutally honest here. Everyday, you are
systemically destroying your health.
This is the conflict all smokers face.
On the one hand, smoking is killing you and you desperately want
to stop.
..And yet on the other hand, you don't really want to stop because
you believe you really enjoy it.
Yet, one other truth cannot be denied and this applies to every
smoker.
We are terrified of how we will F-E-E-L when we can't smoke.
We are convinced it will be unbearable and impossible.
FEAR
Right now, the ONLY thing -- yes, THE ONLY THING stopping you
from quitting smoking is this fear of how YOU WILL FEEL WHEN YOU
STOP.
And yet this very fear is the actual key to quitting smoking
naturally.
Quitting smoking is really all about learning HOW to deal with
the cravings and feelings you WILL get when you stop.
When you learn how to do that - you will realize that there is
nothing to fear when you give up.
What is there to fear?
When you get the craving to smoke, which you will, again and
again - - you will now take the OPPORTUNITY to 'change' or 'transform'
that craving so that it is actually enjoyable or at least tolerable
to experience.
Imagine.
You have decided to give up smoking. It's dinnertime.
You have finished a day's work.
You finish your meal and ..... subconsciously, you reach for
a cigarette. But then, of course you remember you no longer smoke.
Bang! At that moment, certain gut feelings will arise.
Feelings of regret........a feeling that you are missing out
on something important and then maybe..... terrible feelings of
emptiness..... We all know how it feels.
But the real question is: How will you deal with this feeling
-- this craving to smoke?
Will you just suffer it, try to repress it and hope that it will
go away? That is one option. The old willpower method.
Or will you give in to the feeling -- and start to smoke again
(promising to start again tomorrow)?
Or will you - - for the first time ever: - - follow our instructions
and actually ALLOW yourself to transform the feeling/craving so
that it is actually enjoyable or at least pleasant or tolerable
enough to experience.
You see, when you can do that, you will no longer be AFRAID of
these cravings when you stop smoking.
In fact, you will start to WELCOME them because they will give
you another opportunity to RESPOND and DEAL with them in this
NEW WAY.
This process is the essence of quitting smoking naturally and
finding it a pleasant and life-affirming experience.
Weight-loss?
Are you now beginning to see how these principles can also apply
to losing weight.
You see a beautiful cake. You want to eat it....when BANG! --
You remember you are on a diet.
Now watch HOW YOU feel when this happens?
Couldn't we describe it as.
'Feelings of regret........a feeling that you are missing out
on something important and then maybe..... terrible feelings of
emptiness.
Isn't it essentially the same feeling as not being able to smoke?
However, the real question is the same with smoking: How will
you DEAL with this feeling - this craving to eat?
Will you GIVE IN to it -- and eat the cake or will you try and
FORCE yourself not to eat it- and be miserable?
Why not consider our alternative?
Accept this feeling, this desire to eat. But, instead of giving
in to it, learn how to deal and respond to it in a NEW way so
that you don't MIND experiencing it?
Transform the craving so that it is actually enjoyable or very
pleasant to experience.
The Joy of quitting Smoking?
Remember, when you stop - yes, you WILL feel something but there
will be no physical agony, only a temporary feeling that you are
MISSING OUT on something. A feeling that you are being deprived
of something SPECIAL --- but these feelings will ONLY be temporary.
However, to quit smoking successfully and to start to enjoy doing
it we must go deeper than these temporary cravings.
We must realize that:
You find it difficult or impossible to stop smoking now because.........
you BELIEVE ABSOLUTELY that you NEED to smoke and even deeper,
you BELIEVE that if you give up smoking now, your life will never
be as ENJOYABLE again.
In one sentence: You believe your life will be intolerable.
It is these beliefs that makes quitting smoking difficult NOT
Nicotine addiction.
Right now, you are not only physically addicted to smoking but
you are psychologically dependent or addicted to smoking.
If your addiction were purely physical wouldn't all these nicotine
patches have a 100% success record!
Yet, we all know that even if we use a nicotine substitute, we
will still continue to feel a terrible desire to smoke.
Again and again, we'll feel we must have a cigarette. At times,
it will even get to the stage where we just don't care - even
the most dire health warnings will have no affect on us - we just
WANT to smoke. Where does this desire come from ?
It comes from our conditioning, our beliefs about smoking.
This moment, we believe that smoking is an essential pleasure.
In fact, most of us have a terrible resistance to EVEN thinking
about quitting smoking.
Why ?
Because we believe that in order to do anything about our addiction,
i.e. give up smoking -- we would have to end our pleasure and
ending pleasure is something we have NO DESIRE to do.
YOUR REAL JOB
Your real job in giving up smoking lies in REALLY UNDERSTANDING
that you don't NEED to smoke.
You remove the psychological addiction to smoking.
You will never be truly free until you realize that smoking is
not a real pleasure and that when you stop, you WILL NOT BE depriving
ourselves of a real pleasure....... ......and then you will not
only be able to give up smoking for good but you will enjoy doing
it!
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Is it possible to enjoy, yes ENJOY quitting smoking - and not
gain ANY weight? Follow Sean O'Riain famous 10-day free online
Quit Smoking Course at www.quitsmokingonline.com and prove it
for yourself.
Others quit smoking articles available at http://www.quitsmokingonline.com/Articlecontentspage.htm
mike@quitsmokingonline.com
This article will help you remove the need to smoke naturally
by argument and reason alone.
About The Author
Mike Mor
I am the author of 'How to Remove the Psychological Addiction
TO Smoking' and of 'the Bliss of meditation' at www.meditation-zen.com.
This allows me to apply the principles of meditation theory to
the process of quitting smoking.
You have permission to publish this article electronically or
in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.
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