Why is quitting so hard?

[nsd_user663_26699]

I recently made the comment that quitting smoking is as simple as not smoking the next one. What could be easier than that, right? I know that quitting smoking isn't really "easy", and I do often think about why it is so difficult to quit.

I've come to the conclusion that the difficulty lies in the fact that we focus on the reasons why we shouldn't be smoking and yet want to smoke, rather than focusing on the reasons why we should be smoking and the justification for why it would be good for us.

Try building a list with "Why I should NOT be smoking, with all its detriments" on the left hand side of a page, and "Why I should be smoking, with all its benefits" down the right-hand side.

I think you will find that trying to justify the benefits of smoking might leave you somewhat short of ideas

Alex.

[austinlegro 11 Years Smoke Free]

Try building a list with "Why I should NOT be smoking, with all its detriments" on the left hand side of a page, and "Why I should be smoking, with all its benefits" down the right-hand side.

Why I should NOT be smoking

Apparently it’s bad for your health.

It’s a bad example to others.

It makes you smell.

Why I should be smoking.

It makes me look cool

It gives me something to do when I’m bored

It keeps me thin

It gives me confidence is social situations.

It allows me to bond in unfamiliar groups.

It gives me a sense of completion to tasks

It’s an excuse to sit back and kick off the shoes.

It’s a timer

Memories are made during smoking and later relived.

It relaxes me.

A full pack is like a full magazine with which to face the day ahead.

Hmmmm..... Not sure that worked.

[nsd_user663_6426]

A particularly handy pro-smoking reason for me is that the smoke used to scare off the mosquito's whilst I was fishing. Now I'm a happy meal for the little blighters. Gah!

[Hidden]

Try building a list with "Why I should NOT be smoking, with all its detriments" on the left hand side of a page, and "Why I should be smoking, with all its benefits" down the right-hand side.

Okay, here goes:

Why I should NOT be smoking...

[*]It's unhealthy

[*]It's expensive

[*]It makes me stink

[*]It makes it harder to bicycle

[*]I burn holes in my clothes

[*]My apartment stinks all the time

[*]It makes me ashamed of myself

[*]It controls me, not the other way around

[*]I can't smoke wherever I want anymore

[*]I could better use the money spent on smoking for other things

[*]I'm setting a bad example for my kids

[*]It's supposedly not good for my libido, or so I've heard

Why I SHOULD be smoking...

[*]Um,

[*]Uh,

[*]Well,

[*]I mean,

[*]You know, I...

[*]Because...

[*]Hmmm...

I see your point!

[nsd_user663_33441]

Cos its a horrible, compulsive habit, and I am a horrible, compulsive person with addiction probs

Zoe xx

[nsd_user663_35351]

Cos its a horrible, compulsive habit, and I am a horrible, compulsive person with addiction probs

Zoe xx

Have you quit yet Zoe ?

[nsd_user663_22353]

As a kid, i never understood why my parents didn't just quit. "Just don't have one, it's easy."

That was before i learned firsthand just how much it worms it's way into your daily routine. The sheer amount of activities smoking became a part of because i did it during or immediately after them is staggering. It becomes a constant crutch or reward throughout the day & you come to mentally depend on it.

That's not what i signed up for when i drunkenly smoked that first pack.

Awful, awful habit.

I still stand by my childhood quitting method of "Just don't have one."

It's the "it's easy" part i may have misjudged slightly.

[nsd_user663_44157]

Not sure that quitting is that hard. I think the problem is that it is so much easier to not quit.

[nsd_user663_40832]

[QUOTE=austinlegro;Why I should be smoking.

It allows me to bond in unfamiliar groups. - Outside the pub in the rain talking to weird strangers my favourite

Quitting is easy, staying quit not so