Motivation to keep going

the dee

Hi everyone. I'm quitting again, this is my 4th smoke-free day. I'm finding it tough going at times but there are a few thoughts that keep me motivated. I thought it might help if you posted your motivations here to remind yourself why you're doing this and to inspire others.

Personally, whenever I crave a cigarette, I imagine how sick and dizzy I would feel if I had one after being off them for so long.

I've noticed that I don't have bags under my eyes any more, and my skin is already improving - do I want to undo that?

I look at all the non-smokers I know and think 'they get through the day fine without smoking, it's possible and I can be like that.'

What's worrying me most at the moment is going out for a few drinks tonight and at the weekend. Will it be difficult? Then I remember that I had 3 drinks on Monday night and survived just fine. I can do this!

What do you guys focus on in your moments of crisis to keep going?

kim_eire

I'm off them a month now and this is my 5th week, its gets a lot easier!!! I just kept googling stop smoking and reading everyone elses stories, also came across a horrific site wit real stories of people who got cancer really young and suffered an awful lot all because they were addicted to fags. You need to stop now, its an addictin and one day at a time, 4 days down, that is excellent!!! keep going and you wont have to do the first four ever again!!!! you'll never need to go out in the freezing cold for a smoke!! You will have more money and feel a lot better and every day reduce your chances of getting smoking related diseases!!! As for drinking, i have a bag of crisps and eat them slowly, i didnt go out for the first couple of weeks and i avoided all smokers!!!

Archeron

A harsh and nasty one, but I had to go a morgue in Dublin to identify the body of my uncle a number of years ago, and that particular image of the moment of seeing him at first stayed with me. Smoking killed him at the age of 52, and he was a good, fun man with a great joy of life. To see how smoking can nip that in the bud, (and does so to such astonishing numbers around the world continually) made me really peed off and really determined to get off and stay off them.
I actually found that my driving force behind wanting to stop so badly was my own anger at my seeming lack of ability to control the habit. The image above helped reinforce that for me.
Also not having to miss out on conversation to go for a smoke (thank you smoking ban ) and getting back my ability to smell was incredible. I had forgotten how pungent some smells are, and how important smell is to enjoying food. I enjoy my food.
I know in my heart life is just better for me without them, so that helps me recognize moments of weakness as just moments that will pass very quickly.

foxshooter243

I decided to give up smoking one afternoon whilst fishing on a river, i was travelling downstream flyfishing and became a little breathless, i sat down on the bank and thought to myself " im thirty nine years old, what will i be like in ten years time", so i made the decision that i had to quit.
the way i did it was to build up a hatred of smoking even though i continued to smoke, i read articles about smoking related diseases and such like , and then the following new years eve , i threw the last of my cigs into the fire and announced that i had quit. that was 10 years ago,
i admit i struggled at first but i adopted new practises to counteract the craving. firstly i quit drinking tea and coffee, i only drank fruit juice , i began
a regime of walking on the beach 2 miles per day to learn to re appreciate fresh air, i stopped going to pubs where the smell of cigs would be great,
i learned to enjoy food , and didnt worry about weight gain as its the much lesser of two evils..my mate who is the same age as me didnt stop,
and every time i look at him sitting wheezing in the chair with constant bronchitis and a definite candidate for emphysema it reinforces my fortitude..it can be done , no patches or crap like that.. just do it for the sake of your health and not to let your children bury you at a young age.

Fionn

if you already visualise yourself as a non-smoker and keep that as your main focus throughout your waking life and also in your subconscious you've got it nailed!! it wont matter if your out for a few drinks you wont use that as an excuse to smoke! because you'll be visualising yourself as the non-smoker you are. I mentioned in another post when i was quitting i used deep breathing if i got any cravings - hope this helps

kim_eire

how are you doing dee???

daisey

hi all i gave up smoking a week tomorrow (hopefully:eek:) i gave em up cos id like to join the gardai i know its still early days but i dont feel to bad now i think theworst was my first and second day

the dee

kim_eire wrote: »

how are you doing dee???

Hmm... I kinda disappeared there didn't I? My last attempt failed but I'm now on day 2 of my latest attempt. I'm just gonna keep trying no matter how many set-backs I experience.

Never give up giving up!

One day I'll have the fresh, healthy, smoke-free life I'm looking forward to.

Odysseus

Congrats to everyone. I well into my 5th week now. What working for me each day is the longest I been off them since I was 11 I'm 38 this year. I'm finally away from the paradox of been a long distance runner and a smoker. Its paying for things I enjoy, I also buy myself something a cd or dvd each week I'm smoke free. The biggy though was my Dad died two months ago from lung cancer even though he was off them the last 15 years. We had him at home for the last six weeks so I was very involved in his care, giving him injections and the like, so that's the biggest motivator for me at the moment.

However, even with saying that they simple things the like the freedom I have between seeing clients are no longer focused on having a smoke. I'm a psychotherapist who specialises in treating addictions, and for years I would have a smoke between sessions. Very common in the addiction treatment world!

Archeron

the dee wrote: »

One day I'll have the fresh, healthy, smoke-free life I'm looking forward to.

And it really is a great feeling when you take in a big lungful of air and realise that you DIDNT make that weird wobbly noise in your chest that smokers become accustomed to. Best of luck staying off them.