This is a continuation of the previous part of a series of articles on smoking. Here, in the second part, I will talk about a personal example, about how I quit smoking without much difficulty and resistance, and after that, I never again wanted to pull poisonous smoke back into myself. Based on my example, as well as on the experience of other smokers, I formulated principles that will help you get rid of the habit once and for all and never return to it!
What scared me of refusing cigarettes
I have already said that with horror I saw the prospect that I have to quit smoking FOREVER. I understood that someday this would have to be done, but without a pack in my pocket, I very vaguely imagined my future. And before that, I was kind of very restless and fussy, it was difficult for me to sit in one place for a long time without movement or without any sensory irritation: the flow of information, food, pleasant sensations, I needed all this at almost every moment of time.
And if a person experiences a constant need to “tickle” his receptors, as was the case with me, then cigarettes are the ideal and most affordable option.
We can smoke almost anywhere and anytime, while it allows us to take something with our hands, jaw, breathing and, in addition, has an invigorating and at the same time calming effect on the brain. For this reason, I could not imagine how it was possible to do without hourly delays. And at that time I did not see the problem in my fussiness and nervousness, I did not even think about it. During the day, these qualities of mine “attracted” cigarettes, and in the evening they were satisfied with beer, the time between which sips was filled again with tobacco smoke.
I needed to constantly pull something in my hands, feel the change in my condition, eliminate nervousness, stabilize my mood, which then constantly changed in the range between two extremes, fight boredom. I could not sit still and wait for something completely idle, I could not stand the queues and lectures, I felt longing for long trips.
What made me smoke?
And really, the problem of smoking in my case could be solved only by eliminating physical craving for nicotine? Of course not, because it was not the nicotine itself that dealt, not only in its narcotic action, but in me, in my personality, in the qualities of that personality, in the state of my body and mind!
I am sure that most people, especially young people, have a craving for smoking mainly due to psychological reasons, not necessarily like me, just some personalities. In the third part of the cycle I will tell you what personality traits influence the appearance of painful attachments and how to get rid of them.
Following the already familiar astronomical analogy from the previous part, we can formulate it as follows: to get rid of the attraction (dependence) of a massive cosmic body (cause of addiction) in the place where this body is located, you need to remove this body itself, and not remove other bodies from its orbit ( cigarettes, alcohol). If we just rid the orbit of the rotating bodies, the attraction will not go anywhere and any meteorite passing by will be captured by gravity and will be in orbit. That is, we will find something to replace the old habit: gluttony, alcohol or something else ...
How I discovered the problem
I did not immediately understand this. At first, I saw my inner anxiety as a disadvantage, when, thanks to the practice of meditation, I began to look at things and look at myself more soberly. I was exposed to the internal causes of my problems. I realized that this is something to do. But then I had not even thought about quitting. I just began to learn to relax during the day, to endure the discomfort during a long wait, and continued to meditate.
Over time, I became much calmer and the nervousness was no longer so strong. Then I decided to tie with tobacco, I did it simultaneously with a friend, we agreed to both quit this habit. Everything turned out to be not so difficult for me: I was very irritable for a week, could not focus my attention, jerked constantly, but then it went down (this is not hellish agony, I assure you) and I didn’t want to smoke anymore. But how difficult it seemed from the beginning! But it turned out so easy!
What happened after I quit smoking?
I was very glad that I no longer smoke, I breathed in the full lungs of the air, I felt new shades of smells and tastes, my breath was gone and there were problems with pressure. Overall, I felt much better.
But my friend everything was different: I saw that he longs for tobacco. Giving up, he seemed to have lost something, and I, on the contrary, just acquired something. About a year later he lit up, smokes now. 2 years have passed since our casting agreement. I never took a cigarette in my mouth and did not even think about it, nor did I feel a sense of loss, but only disgust at the thought that I would inhale this acrid smoke. I am sure that I will never smoke.
All this made me think about why I quit, having 6 years of experience without much difficulty and resistance, and for someone to do it is so difficult. And then I tried to understand myself, I realized that it was the real reason for my habit: an internal concern, having coped with which the refusal of tobacco smoke was already the most elementary and obvious solution! I only had to suffer a little discomfort during the period of weaning, and that was it. It was much easier than I thought, it was a release, not a loss.
By the way, due to the fact that I acquired some kind of calm, I gradually began to drink less and less alcohol, until its consumption did not become an extremely episodic thing. I think soon I’ll stop drinking it altogether, as I need less and less of it. (Update: It has come soon, now I don’t drink at all)
Now, enough about my experience, let's try to summarize it and bring it under a common denominator. I will formulate the main possible causes of addiction and, in particular, nicotine addiction, and then I will tell you how to work with these causes. Go to the next part. Why do people smoke?
