Thanks for the posts on quitting smoking. That is my husband's New Year's resolution. I'm saving this thread for him to read the success stories.
Congratulations to all of you who have kicked the habit. Prayers for all of you who are trying.
I had the good fortune of being able to quit cold-turkey years ago when I got pregnant with my first child. My daddy was able to quit almost as easily as I did...not so for my mother and sister. They went through a lot of chewing gum and tears, but finally did it after several tries. I don't think my sis would have ever quit if she hadn't become afraid for her own health after she watched a good friend die from lung cancer, and he still was not able to stop smoking even when breathing became so difficult.
The main thing he must keep in mind is that he is building
self-esteem with every day he stops, eventually his self-esteem will out weigh any desire he has to continue stopping. The enemy of all this is backsliding, it does
no good to go a week or two then have a smoke, as you have
just destroyed those weeks of esteem and have even a higher
ramp to get over.
When I quit thirty years ago, I was smoking two or more
packs a day, one day I looked at the ground around my
work station, (I was a welder) and there were SIXTY butts
around my feet, my girl had just dumped me and the world
was falling in, but I quit then and there and never went
back.
My mom finally quit about 15 years ago and would come telling me how hard it was, etc. I told her then,
"There will come a time when you will never even think
about a cigarette!" She didn't believe me then, but now
smoking is just a bad memory.
Good luck to your husband, he CAN do it, just don't let up!
Happy smoke free New Years!
t.
Prayers for your hubby, LucyJo. One word of caution...(I hated when this happened!).... do NOT bring up the *subject* while he's in withdrawl.
It seemed like every time I turned around someone would ask me how I was doing. Inside my brain - thousands of times every day - I was telling myself, "You CAN do it! You DON'T want a smoke! Concentrate on something ELSE!!"
About that time, some kind thoughtful person asked me HOW WAS I DOING WITHOUT MY CIGS and brought the whole subject up again, LOL!