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On the other hand, you know - or
think you know - that
cigarettes are an essential part of your life, and that
without them you would be unable to enjoy it fully or
cope with its stresses. And anyway,
you've probably tried
"giving up" in the past, and know that it doesn't work.
So in a powerful sense it's a tug
of war - and you are the rope.
The team in the "I Mustn't Smoke"
teeshirts are pulling one way,
and the "I Need a Cigarette" team are pulling just a little more
strongly the other way.
But suppose you found out that
they are actually both on
the same side? That the fear of
smoking and the fear
of not smoking are both caused directly by the fact that
you smoke. Then you might start
to wonder what would happen
if you just...er.....stopped.
Hold on, though - what about
withdrawal symptoms?
Here's something else that not a
lot of people know.
Nicotine can only stay in your
bloodstream for 48 hours.
So just what is it that can keep
you craving for weeks,
months, even years of "giving up"? Quite
simply, it's the
idea that there is something to give up.
Once your body becomes
addicted to nicotine, it needs a
regular dose. If that dose is withheld
- or you even fear
that it might be - it becomes impossible to function normally.
So you very soon come to associate
having a cigarette with being
able to concentrate or relax.
But it would be just the same
if a car alarm went off while
you were trying to work or read a book or watch TV. You
would have to wait until the distraction stopped.
As a
smoker, you have a built-in source of distraction that
non-smokers don't have to bother with.
Same with drinking.
Smoking dries your mouth, and it turns
your saliva into acid. So you need to drink more tea, coffee,
coke, beer, whatever. Once your mouth is refreshed, you can take
your next dose of nicotine. Over time, the two come to be
associated. Simple as that.
Is this beginning to make sense?
You have a physical addiction
to nicotine, but much more important you have built up a
system of delusions that enable you to believe that having
a smoke actually solves some problems.
So "giving up" smoking feels like
doing without something
essential. But the only problems a
cigarette can solve are
the ones it created in the first place.
So if you take away the "solution",
you take away 90 per
cent of the problem too.
Which just leaves the nicotine
in your blood, and the prospect of two or three days'
discomfort while it flushes out. Once you realise that's
all there is, it really isn't hard to deal with it.
This basically is the process I went
through five years ago,
when I went overnight from a 30-a-day smoker to the tickled
pink non-smoker I am today. If you want to know more about it,
get back to me on
jimtrim@compuserve.com.
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