Quit Smoking – What Is The Key?

In order to offer as complete information as possible, articles by guest authors will be published regularly at this blog. First out is Steve Bralovich:

Quit Smoking – What Is The Key?

By: Steve Bralovich

Quit smoking and your life will be fuller and you’ll be sick less frequently. That smoker’s cough you have is caused by clogged tissues in your lungs and if you ignore it, you’re probably headed for respiratory complications that will make your life a living hell and may even do you in.

But you probably already know all that because the effects of tobacco use is common knowledge these days. Not like when I was a kid and practically every doctor or nurse smoked. Heck, they even recommend cigarettes to patients as a way to calm the nerves.

However, today despite all the information both on the Internet and in other media, people find it impossible to quit. Why do you think that is?

Could it be that Nicotine is so highly addictive that it literally enslaves it’s victims rendering them virtually helpless to stop? You bet it is. It’s a substance more addictive than cocaine, plus it’s lethal and yet it’s still sold legally around the world.

If smoking has you in its clutches, here’s some practical advice to help you beat the the Nicotine dragon.

Not giving up is your most important tool in kicking the habit. No matter how many times you’ve tried to quit, keep at it. I tried for about 2 years to quit and failed miserably dozens of times. It beat me so often it even made me cry a couple of times. I think about that now and see that what this really did was stiffen my resolve to quit even more. When the day came that I finally found the key to quitting, I was very motivated to use it. I was desperate and totally geared up to quit and you need to be as well. If you want something bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.

What is the key that finally made the difference for me?

It was the acceptance of the idea that I was really an addict. Totally and completely hooked and at the mercy of a substance called Nicotine. I was an addict just like any cocaine or heroin addict.

After all, I experienced the same withdrawal symptoms as any addict. Symptoms such as shakiness, itchiness, sweatiness, tiredness, irritability, loss of productivity, and body aches. And all I had to do to make that go away was just have another cigarette and within just a few puffs it would all disappear. I could not help it and neither can you or you wouldn’t keep reading this.

Face it, if you weren’t an addict you’d be able to quit smoking this very minute and never look back. But you can’t because every time you try, you go through the same thing over and over again.

If you’re not an addict, prove it! Quit right now and never start again. Prove me wrong. I dare you!

It’s not possible is it? That’s because the drug has you. You don’t have the drug.

You can’t control your urges to smoke any more than Norman Bates could control his urges to kill in the Hitchcock thriller Pyscho from the 1960’s.

This IS the key you’ve been looking for. I know because it was for me.

You’ll hear a lot of talk about smoking habits and how you just need the willpower and then you’ll be able to make it… which is true, but only to a degree.

Cigarette addiction is partly physical and partly psychological. But the brain’s physical dependency is the thing that keeps you trapped because it causes real physiological reactions to withdrawal.

If you can get rid of enough of the Nicotine in your system, you then have a fighting chance to break the psychological addiction.

So how does a drug addict get off the drug?

Usually through some form of a temporary crutch that pacifies the urges so that they have time to pass. This is what smoking aids like Nicorette are designed to do. With it you can safely and gradually ween yourself off of Nicotine. It buys you some time so that you can address the other things that keep you smoking.

There are more steps of course but I wanted to introduce you to the real crux of your smoking problem.

If you want to read about some effective techniques based on my own personal experiences in quitting smoking and staying off cigarettes for over 15 years, you should follow the link to my webpage about smoking addiction and how to quit.

Quit smoking for good by keeping in mind what I’ve written here and best of luck in your attempts to kick the habit!

The author is a researcher, writer, and ex-smoker for more than 15 years. For practical tips to help you quit visit the author’s stop smoking webpage