sorry to be off topic like this, but i hope this thread might help some one out there.
~ curtis =======================
I used to think smokers who couldn't quit were just copping out. Those women would were able to eat right, exercise, and everything we told them they needed to do, but often could *not* stop smoking. It was then that I realized what a powerful addiction cigarette smoking is - wow! Natalie ============
hi natalie - here's the REAL reason that smoking is so hard to quit.
the cigarette becomes a "real person" in the individual's life.
the smoker has the one "friend" who was there to share their victory or defeat. it is the one "friend" who will listen when nobody else will. when everyone else has turned them away, it is the one true "friend" that has stayed there to see them at their worse and not judge them. so, you see, the cigarette is the one thing is a person's life that they are been able to relate to. they may not like to smoke and want to quit, but when times got tough, or when times where great, it was the one thing that they would share in their moment of happiness or agony.
and so when one decides to quit, it is similar to going through the death of a friend. only you are the one who is killing the friend. and anyone who has lost a friend knows how painful that can be. what would you give to bring your friend back to life again? to be able to share in the feelings that you two had together just one more time? oh, how one yens for that feeling that is missing in their life.
here's a snippet of what's been posted, see if you can find the strong tie between the two......
--------------- My mother-in-law, a Nazi death camp survivor smokes (I can't say I blame her after what she went through),
The woman's incredible, and I wish she could stop so we could have her on this planet longer.
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death camp survivor? and smokes? how can this be linked together? as a vietnam vet, i can tell you there are men who has experienced their friends shot down and feel they should have joined them, but somehow lived. the bond is so strong between the experience and what couples this experience to them - the cigarette.
but how you may ask?
you CAN bring this friend back to life. you CAN experience the feelings you shared in that moment you remembered so well. and all you have to do is light it up just ONE more time................
smoking is more than "just a habit" and to be able to quit, one has to be able to commit to a life change. as one person wrote......
----------------- Sorry to hear that. I tried filters, patches, training programs, but none worked for me. One day, it came down to that I couldn't afford college for my wife, and my 3 pack/day habit. I said I had to quit and I did. I promised myself I would start back up when I could afford it, but that was 10+ years ago. Now with a mortgage and a child, I"m guessing I'll have to remain smoke-free, but I do enjoy the smell now and then.
------------------
just as some people have to go get help to get over the loss of a friend, some people will go a quit smoking clinic - to deal with the loss of not smoking.
it's tough to quit smoking, but it can be done. the reason i wrote this response to this tread was not to try to convert someone into stop smoking, but i figure if they understood the reason WHY it is so hard to quit, they might be able to prepare themselves better for the day that do take that final step to quit and be to able to quit for good.
because if they don't - the saying goes - sooner or later - everyone stops smoking.
~ curtis
ps. i had to do this with alcohol because i was involved in gun fights when i came back in the states from the war and i knew either the alcohol or the shoot outs were going to kill me.