I quit drinking after hearing about a head-on accident about a mile from my house where a drunk driver killed a family of four. I realized that I was just one careless act away from the type of mess that ends lives.
About a year after that I saw a public service ad featuring a young female school teacher. Six months before making the ad, the teacher was happily vacationing in Hawaii without a care in the world. Two weeks after making the ad she died of lung cancer. The sadness in her voice at how she had screwed up her life was something I decided was simply unacceptable for someone as smart as I am. I never smoked another cigarette after having smoked a pack a day for ten years.
I don't know what others have experienced, but I had the same experience with both drinking and smoking. When I had actually quit it was like throwing a switch inside my brain. I simply decided that from that moment on I was a non-drinker or a non-smoker.
The hardest moment came about six or eight weeks after I quit smoking. External events just seem to pile up and I so longed for that relaxing feeling you get when you light up a cigarette. Somehow the drug helps one to cope with problems. When I made it through that time I was convinced that I had quit for good.
I would advise those trying to quit to first cut down as much as they can. There are both physical and psychological aspects to these addictions. Quitting will be easier if one can reduce the physical aspect first.
yeah i had tried quitting smoking several times- but always failed- before i discovered that reminding myself every hour that what i had just been htrough was hell, but that i was goign to beat it=- because i wasn’t goign to waste thsoe hours of tryign to quit
once i tried quitting, but stress got me too- i caved back then though- you’re right- ciggs definitely help with stress- The psychological aspect is very very powerful-