In the first person: I was born 40 something years before in Europe, with a cigarette in my mouth. My parents smoked, my relatives smoked, my friends smoked. My father is 82 and still a chain smoker. Smoking is an necessary part of cultural habits, meeting people, and having fun. For a culture that lives on streets full of cafes, smoking is not optional, it's almost compulsory.
I was 13 when I got hooked on cigarettes, enough to start budgeting part of my everyday allowance for cigarettes. Mind you, I wasn't an outsider, a straight A learner, from a rich academic family, I was actually trying to fit in. At that point, and even many years later, trying to stop smoking was not even in the back of my mind. It will take me 30 more years to get to that point.
Writer by occupation, smoking was vastly a part of my everyday schedule. It was exactly like it used to be in the old black and white movies - me, the typewriter, and the big ashtray with the cigarette butts piled up high. Soon after I moved to the US, the problems with my smoking ensued. They were not simply of social nature any more; they became a health concern too. Not just did I move to the Bay Area, California, which was the undoubted leader in the witch search for smokers, I was detected with asthma.
I can say from that moment on, 15 years ago, I was trying to quit smoking on a daily basis. There was by now a drastic change in place for me - I couldn't smoke at my workplace any more and I had to time my smoking habits according to the office timetable. It was tougher at home as my colleague, an American, was a smoker too.
We decided to only smoke outside the home. That didn't work at all, because, sadly, it's California, the weather is lovely year around, so we both finished up simply sleeping in the house, while living, eating, having friends over on the back yard terrace. It's astounding with how much yard work you can invent - our postage stamp sized back yard became more like a jungle with heirloom tomatoes, tea roses, sweet peas, and citrus trees.
I finally quit smoking cold turkey. Two years afterward, with a new lease on life, I'm proud to say - I haven't had a cigarette since. I realize it very well: once an addict, forever an addict and I had my share of night sweats, nightmares, inevitable shivers, unmanageable crying. But I can all the time say it was caused by my divorce drama, not nicotine. Every now and then, during lunch break in the financial district, I stop by someone smoking in front of their office building. Second hand smoke still smells so good.
Quit The Cigarette Smoking Habit.
This is an article about the way to set your mind to the right place so that you make a very conscious decision to stop smoking. This is really a decision that if you engage your brain it just does not make any sense to continue with your smoking habit at all.
How The Electronic Cigarette Can Keep You From Smoking Now
When first hearing about The Electronic Cigarette my initial reaction was that this was a novelty item that wasn't to be taken seriously. But upon closer inspection I realized that this is an ingenious invention that has the potential of changing the way in which people smoke forever.
5 Steps To Quit Smoking Effortlessly In Only 24 Hours No Taking Pills
During some point in your quest of trying to quit smoking, you will come across a situation where your urge to smoke increases. How you cope with this dilemma will help you go a long way towards achieving your objective of staying smoke free.
The Smoking Habit, Tobacco Addiction And How We Can Accomplish Solid Smoking Control
Everyone knows that tobacco addiction is one of the hardest addictions to shake, but does this mean that you need to accept tobacco controlling your life? No, hundreds and thousands have quit and you too can gain control over tobacco. With some simple strategies you can quit.
Tobacco Addiction, Cigar Smoking And The Crusade To Quit Smoking
Cigarette smoking is a highly addictive behavior due to the presence of nicotine. It has serious health repercussions and is becoming less socially acceptable. Achieving smoking control requires a change in behavior as well as withdrawal from nicotine addiction. Methods of quitting include substituting a non tobacco form of nicotine.
Giving Up Smoking Is Difficult But You Do Have Several Options For Help
One technique that folks use to give up smoking is hypnosis. Hypnosis is actually a proven technique of reducing cigarette cravings and it is at least as effective as other stop smoking aids such as the patch or nicotine gum.