Easy Way to Quit Smoking

I had smoked for 30 years. And I believed I couldn't quit. I had made some feeble attempts at quitting before, but to no avail.

Nothing worked. I lacked the willpower. I lived alone and I didn't have anyone pushing me. I hadn't yet had any signs that a smoker might develop but I knew it was only a matter of time.

I had known all about the health risks. I had seen all the commercials. I read all the warnings and the doctor reports; all smokers do. Truth is, if health warnings were going to have much of an effect, we wouldn't be smoking.

I kept telling myself, I only smoked about ten a day, that was light. I didn't smoke in my house or car. I smoked when I was bored or anxious, or after a meal, or in a social situation. Or whenever I felt like it. I enjoyed smoking. I was polite about it.

I was living in a world of denial. My father is dying of emphysema and COPD. I watch him struggle with it every day and I feel guilty when I take a smoke break when I'm visiting him. He constantly lectures me on quitting so I don't end up like him. He says he understands what the addiction is like though. He, himself was addicted to cigarettes for over 50 years. He didn't quit until after the diagnosis and he was put on oxygen.

I was afraid of quitting. I was afraid of the withdrawl. I was afraid of the constant cravings. I was afraid of losing my crutch. I was afraid of failing. So I kept right on smoking. Thinking of quitting caused me more stress. Cutting down caused me stress.

Sometimes smoking was the only thing that could make me feel sane. And I knew how unhealthy that was. I didn't want to get COPD. Its a horrible and slow, painful death during which you rely on everyone to take care of you. I couldn't think of a worse way to go.

I decided that I needed the company of people who were at the same place I was or who had recently been there, if I was thinking of trying to quit. So, I logged on to BecomeanEX.org.

I had to answer a bunch of questions but I figured that was a small price to pay for some help. No one ever called me on the phone or bothered me.

I just named an arbitrary date that I thought I'd pick as a stop smoking date, but there was no way I ever thought I would really ever stop smoking.

I wrote a blog about how I was hopeful that I would quit and I would follow some of the advice that I had read so far. They did have some useful information on the site. I was surprised at how many other people had written me back after my first blog! It seems that site is used my thousands of recently quit and long time quitters who are very helpful and wanting to reach out to others! I read some posts and comments, all very helpful and positive.

But several recommended a book to me....and this was a recurring theme through the next several days of my blogs.

I was a skeptic. How could a book help me quit smoking? So, I looked it up and it was free and available at a website online. It was only a little over 100 pages long so I thought, I can't lose.

In the beginning of the book, it told me I could smoke throughout reading the book but at the end of it, I'd want to stop. And it would be enjoyable. Pretty bold claim, if it was true. I didn't believe it. So I kept reading just to prove it wrong.

The more I read, the more I was eating my words. I stopped smoking a chapter before the end of the book. And it was enjoyable. It was like a wave of freedom had washed over me and I knew I'd never go back to smoking again.

I still stay in touch on BecomeanEX.org. I recommend the book too. It was like a miracle to me. I wish I had read it fifteen or twenty years ago. And it was free. It took nothing more than for me to read the book and really listen.

The book is called "The EASYWAY to quit smoking" by Alan Carr.

Here is the website: http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf

I believe that the book was the secret to finally helping me quit smoking and BecomeanEX.org gave me tools to help, as well as community to go to for the sticky times. Once in a while, I get this odd craving for one cigarette; I just want one. I don't know where it comes from. And I know in my head that I don't really want it. I think it's just a memory of wanting it. So, I get online and find out its perfectly natural; it usually occurs at the three-week mark. But that one puff is fatal to a quit. My online community got me through the urge; surprisingly to me, it just went away. I survived it too! And I'm even happier for it!

So even if you think you might entertain the thought of quitting, read the book. You've got everything to gain!

Namaste.