Ok you are just starting out on quitting smoking. Congratulations, it’s a big step, but certainly never been a better time to quit, so it may aswell be now. Good for you! You’ve probably been told already ‘the first 3 days are the worst’… and in a way you probably have a small sense of fear about it.. as you really don’t know what to expect.
Yes the first 3 days are indeed the worst probably, and the cravings you are experiencing now, are no different to what you had when you were smoking. Whats different now though is you have removed the supply of nicotine which fed the addiction and kept it maintained throughout your smoking life.
The trouble with nicotine is that every time you had a smoke, that withdrawal started again from the second you stubbed the ciggie out., and its not long really before you were reaching for another one to maintain the addiction.
Now though? here you are, you've already denied the addiction the thing its desiring, you want to quit.. you really do.. and all that’s happening at the moment is the addiction you are quitting is giving you withdrawal symptoms which over the coming days will reduce in intensity. Day 1 & 2 you will constantly be thinking of the very thing that you have been kidded into believing fixes the feeling of withdrawal... it doesn't fix it.. it just keeps resetting the counter of the withdrawal and that’s why we have to go through the quitting process no matter how tough these first days are in order to break the very chains that have been dragging us down since we started smoking.
So yes day 1, day 2 and day 3 are definitely the most difficult time during a withdrawal.. but consider the following?
Many of us call our addiction the nicotine demon(Nico-demon), or monster... now this monster can and will kill you... lets say when you start your quit you both start at the same point but with the monster just a few steps behind you.. you know its dangerous, and so you set off running.. your running represents your quit. You can see in the distance 3 clear milestones.. there are more milestones in the distance but you can't quite see them yet... you see the 3 marked as day 1... day 2.... and day 3.... this is good, so you keep running.. your not used to the running at first.. not ran in years in fact.. but you just keep the milestone closest to you in mind...
First its the milestone for day 1. You can't quite run so fast on day 1, but you are still making more ground than your nico-demon is.. oh that monster will try all the tricks in the book to make you stop running away... will try to convince you your its friend and that you've been friends for so long why keep running? At first you listen, but you decide to keep running, you have fell for its lies for too long and all the things it says it helps you do or cope with in life.. are wrong. All lies.. and all to get you to just keep feeding him.
You reach the first Milestone labeled day 1! Well done! You've done well, but don't stop now. You get to go sleep, and the monster sleeps at the same time.. so when you wake up to the next leg of the race... when you wake up you will somehow have got 6.. 7 or 8 hours ahead of your 'monster' whom you are doing the right thing by leaving behind... onwards to the day 2 milestone...
Day 2, is much like day 1.. but at least you don't start the run today with the monster hot on your heels, today you have a good head start but the monster is going to be determined to catch you up and to start whispering those lies in your ear again like it used to. So you run again. Keep the pace going and when you hear that monster shouting after you, trying to convince you to stop, you run that little bit faster, and look into the distance. Never look back. You look back you lose pace and speed... and it wants you to do that. Keep moving forwards and don't stop for a second.
You reach the day 2 milestone after yes.. a bit of a difficult run today.. it wasn't without its difficulties. Your mind is set on the task of quitting and you've done really well indeed. Two whole days of not feeding that monster its fix and already perhaps not noticeably just yet, the monsters voice is becoming quieter. You are then at the end of the day and this milestone. You go to sleep again for another 6,7, 8 hour sleep which will put you on yet another head start into day 3 and towards the 3rd milestone.
You wake on day 3. You're actually still quite tired from day 1 and 2, but still full of the determination to quit and be rid of the monster that has caused you so much trouble so far.. again you begin the race towards the 3rd milestone, this is the 3rd day. Today is a day that you may experience a bit of rough going, the ground is a bit more rocky than the previous 2 days but you already do have 2 days behind you and although you may not fully realize it yet, ‘in less than 1 day to go most of the nicotine in your system will have already left your body, that and the carbon monoxide too’. Now some folk say they have a very difficult day on day 3 and some go into day 3 fearing it... but in this part of the race you have more judgment and determination now than the first 2 days put together, you just have to keep going towards the 3rd milestone, and avoid any of the rocks on the ground that are likely to make you stumble along the way.
The monster? oh he will be pleading with you by now. You've taken away his favourite toys, and deprived him of the thing you've been feeding it... it pleads with you to stop....
The question is at this point... do you give in, and destroy all your effort of the last 2 to 3 days to get away from that monster? do you let it catch up and inevitably kill you... and it will. (perhaps eventually)... or do you make the decision right now that you will not believe its lies...and know that you are strong enough to do this quit and get through to that 3rd marker even though its a little way more up the hill?
I think you know in yourself that you really should put more effort in at this stage.. pick up your pace a little bit and really make a go at it towards that 3rd milestone.
With just a bit more effort and less listening to the pathetic voice of the monster, you reach the 3rd milestone.. day 3 is done.. and finally you get to sleep again.. at the top of the hill. Monster is out of the way while you sleep.
Day 4: Good morning! Hope you slept well!... no time to rest any longer, we need to keep going, so on go your trainers again and bam, your off... but hey hang on, its downhill now today... this should be easy. Not as hard as day 3 right? well yes.. a bit easier but look out for the potholes on the way down.. and of course the odd rock here or there... the monster dug those potholes to try to slow you down, oh and your feet ache a bit today.. all that running has right fair took it out of you a bit.. but you set off anyway... you may notice today though you feel a bit moody and perhaps a little glum... you may not even be able to hear your monster as much today, but he's there still chasing, oh he's definitely there so keep going...
Day 4 can be a bit of a challenge still, you lose a little pace as you do tend to be thinking a lot today. Perhaps a bit sad, confused or angry or all of these things, but this day you just need to get through and reach that 4th milestone at the bottom of the hill. You can see that milestone quite clearly, and beyond it you notice the path is there again... keep your mind set on the milestone and the path beyond. Don't stop today and if you feel those moods coming on try to deal with them as rationally as you can. They do pass, they really do. Just don’t let them get the better of you.
Get through this 4th day, reach that 4th milestone and sleep well.
Now this race doesn't quite end here, but it does start getting much easier after this point. You've already gone what? 4 days... through some of the toughest times of this race to be free of the monster so far, there is still much more to do yet but now you know that putting time and effort into this? You can do it.
You absolutely cannot and will not smoke, and although sometimes you may feel. “oh just one won't harm?†That’s bad thinking because one will harm and it will bring that monster you've spent all this time getting away from right back on your heels. You absolutely do not know what that monster will do to you, so keep him at distance and do not fall for the 'oh just one' lie.
Keep going and set your new goals to the day 5, day 6 and the first huge milestone of 1 whole week. It is achievable, but you have to want it. (I am sure you do, otherwise you wouldn't be here quitting smoking anyway right?)
After the first week and you get that feeling of 'hey wow?! I have done this!', you can then see that it is possible but you must stay determined and true to your objective in order to stay at the point where you are, and indeed be in an even better position tomorrow, the day after and then heading up to another week later at 2 weeks. If you can do one week, you can surely do two and if you can go two weeks, you can definitely do three!! Well don't stop there, by now you're already seeing the benefits of all your effort and feeling a whole lot better too as energy and well being is already returning to you and you really actually quite like the feeling.
The rest and certainly the journey to the whole month and beyond in your quit will only happen if you stay as determined to quit as you were on day 1. The monster you are escaping can either be one month away or right on your heels should you begin to even believe its lies again.
Its time you had your life back, you deserve it. So keep running, keep believing in yourself and above all stay quit from smoking.
Good luck and keep running this quit.
