Thought for today:
"I fortunately gave up smoking around ten years ago. I had my first cigarette at the age of 9 years (a Woodbine), and smoked for the next fifty years. Two heart attacks at the age of 59 years and a twenty-year 'smoker's cough' still couldn't convince me that I needed to give up.
Between the ages of 59 and 62 I twice tried to stop smoking. Each time I lasted a mere three months before giving out to temptation. On my third attempt, I succeeded and have not smoked since;approximately ten years.
My cough went immediately and my lung capacity improved significantly. I have no doubt that I could still enjoy a puff, but don't have the desire for one. There is no 'best way' for one to give up smoking as it seems to be 'each to his own.' We each have different mind sets and philosophical views; hence some approaches are more or less suitable for one smoker than another wanting to quit ther habit. For some, gradual withdrawal will work, whilst others require hypnosis, shock tactics or plain cold turkey.
I have always been a bit of a 'control freak,' so I found that being able to view myself as 'an addict' to tobacco did the trick. Once I had it firmly established in my mind that 'something other than me was controlling my body,' the battle was over and there was only one winner; me!
However, an addict I was and an addict I shall remain. I will never describe myself as a 'non-smoker', but instead as a 'tobacco addict who no longer smokes'. Like the alcoholic and other drug addicts, I know that I am only one cigarette away from smoking again." William Forde: November 26th, 2014.
"I fortunately gave up smoking around ten years ago. I had my first cigarette at the age of 9 years (a Woodbine), and smoked for the next fifty years. Two heart attacks at the age of 59 years and a twenty-year 'smoker's cough' still couldn't convince me that I needed to give up.
Between the ages of 59 and 62 I twice tried to stop smoking. Each time I lasted a mere three months before giving out to temptation. On my third attempt, I succeeded and have not smoked since;approximately ten years.
My cough went immediately and my lung capacity improved significantly. I have no doubt that I could still enjoy a puff, but don't have the desire for one. There is no 'best way' for one to give up smoking as it seems to be 'each to his own.' We each have different mind sets and philosophical views; hence some approaches are more or less suitable for one smoker than another wanting to quit ther habit. For some, gradual withdrawal will work, whilst others require hypnosis, shock tactics or plain cold turkey.
I have always been a bit of a 'control freak,' so I found that being able to view myself as 'an addict' to tobacco did the trick. Once I had it firmly established in my mind that 'something other than me was controlling my body,' the battle was over and there was only one winner; me!
However, an addict I was and an addict I shall remain. I will never describe myself as a 'non-smoker', but instead as a 'tobacco addict who no longer smokes'. Like the alcoholic and other drug addicts, I know that I am only one cigarette away from smoking again." William Forde: November 26th, 2014.
