Fellow Quitters,
With the start of the new year, a lot of "newbies" are on the site. That is great!! It is cool to see all of your fresh, smiling faces out there bravely leaving your crutches behind for the unknown world of the exsmoker. A few of the elders here have put up new posts so I thought, what the hell! Here is my 2 cents on quitting and stress...
The biggest, single, most defining factor in my successful break from nicotine addiction was my mindset. In other words, my mental approach to the job at hand. There is NO magic pill. No smoking cessation method will work if you don't have the right mental attitude.
In order to find that mental starting point, you must educate yourself about this addiction. Knowing what to expect will go a long way in successfully clearing all the hurdles that you'll find that block your way. (note my signature about Knowledge) Those hurdles include work stress and family stress. How many of you have said in the past..."I have too much stress in my life to try and quit?" Stress will always be there, believe me. If you wait for the stress to go away before trying to quit, then you'll die a smoker. All of us have stress, it's just a matter of relearning how to deal with the stress without the smokes.
Every time you make it through a stressful situation without reaching for the smokes, you strengthen your quit. You essentially retrain your brain to cope without a drug-altering "fix." Do you know why smokers automatically reach for the smokes during periods of high stress? It's because the stress makes our bodies metabolize the nicotine at a faster rate, thereby causing our nicotine levels to drop faster. Smoking a cigarette gives the nicotine receptors in our brains the "fix" that makes us feel we can successfully cope with the stress at hand. The cigarette is simply the means of keeping our nicotine levels stable and prevents the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Once you understand this, then you stop "buying" into the belief that you smoke because you enjoy it.
So, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll simply say...educate yourself. Read everything you can find on smoking, its effects and its addiction mechanism. Listen to the advice of others in this group who have some pretty awesome quits g
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Quit Meter
$36,342.40
Amount Saved
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Quit Meter
Days: 9770
Hours: 19
Minutes: 30
Seconds: 27
Life Gained
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Quit Meter
45428
Smoke Free Days
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Quit Meter
363,424
Cigarettes Not Smoked
