Ha!
In five days, it will be a year since I quit smoking. I was thinking about the early days of my quit today, and I remember quite clearly telling myself, "Self? If you reach a full year without smoking, you can have a cigarette."
That technique actually helped because it stopped me from freaking out about how long "the rest of your life" is. It reminded me that smoking is about choice, and that I can choose to smoke - or even better, choose NOT to smoke.
That silly little thought, "If you reach a full year, you can have a cigarette" actually worked for me to conquer some of those early craves.
Of course, the irony is that now that I'm nearly there, and could soon have a cigarette, I don't want one at all. And the other irony is that each of us, any of us, could choose to "have a cigarette" if we wanted at any time. This is all about choice, folks.
If could choose to have one, you can also choose NOT to have one. It's not all that complicated! 
