You know, smoking was something that I hated during my childhood and teenage years. It seemed everyone I knew smoked; my parents, relatives, friends, neighbors and I was the one telling everyone else, "Don't you know those things are bad for you?" Oh brother. Little did I know that one day I would understand where they were coming from when they would reply; "I wish I could quit smoking, but I just can't." That just made no sense to me at all. I realize now that it didn't make sense to them either. They were simply caught up in the addiction to the point that they actually learned to enjoy the whole smoking experience. If you fool around with cigarettes long enough that's exactly what happens. You develop a sort of "friendship" with the cigarettes until one day you realize you can't leave home without them. I became a chain-smoker and would actually panic if I didn't have at least two packs of cigarettes with me at all times. You see, the nicotine is only a very small part of the cigarette addiction. The emotional part is the one that keeps the smoker smoking long after they decide it's time to quit. After all, it's not easy saying goodbye to a "friend."

I ended up smoking for the next ten years, quitting several times in between, until one day I figured out a logical way of cutting down. I started noticing what I was doing every time I lit up a cigarette; drinking a cup of coffee, talking on the phone etc., and then I started writing these things down. Before I knew it I had come up with a quit smoking plan like nothing I had ever seen before. There's people out there that have gone cold turkey and managed to remain non-smokers. I'm not one of those people. My emotional connection to smoking cigarettes had become so strong that I couldn't even remember what it was like to be a non-smoker anymore. Well, with this plan it was very easy because I was able to say goodbye a little at a time. Then one day I realized it was just me, instead of of me and my cigarettes.

For the smokers that can relate to this, please know that you really can quit, even if you don't want to because you love smoking so much. I am living proof that it is possible to take complete control over your smoking habit painlessly using a simple common sense plan combined with a Special Calendar. Believe me, there is hope.

http://www.quitsmokingwhilestillsmoking.org/emotionalconnection.html