Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MA_TESOL]

o.k. I have found that not smoking is not fun! I love smoking, but there is apparently a stronger part of me that wishes to quit? For days I have stared at a cigarette and lighter, I know it is there and I know I can light up - but I haven't. This amazes me as I had not made a plan to quit. I was at my computer and the thought came to my mind "Imagine not smoking." When the next nicotine urge came, I simply acknowledged it without lighting up. In fact, each time the urge has come, I have said out loud, " I want a cigarette." It is not the first time I tried to quit and I don't know if I am successful yet? I feel a deep grieving in my soul; like losing a good friend. I think it is going to be awhile before I "feel good" about being a non-smoker? I would love to sit back and relax and light one up now. To draw it deep into my lungs, but I guess I wont do that. Something is stopping me? Not sure where it came from, but it seems to be a new found will power.

The real test will be to sit in a bar and not smoke. LOL I think impossible. Maybe, I will quit that too.

Is it worth it? So, I might get to be geriatric a few more years if I am a non-smoker? Is it worth it? I do not know

[mises]

Quitting was a great deal easier that I had been told. 3-4 bad days, 3-4 poor days and I was done (after a decade at a pack a day). However, I will allow myself to smoke when out at a pub (once a month or so). I do not crave ever, at all.

I've often wondered if the ciggy industry hasn't gone along with the "very difficult to quit" meme to scare the hell out of current smokers (lessen their likelihood to try). Nobody likes to fail.

Hang in there. Nobody ever died from not smoking.

[Underwaterbob]

Seems to me you're much better off than if you wanted to quit and couldn't. Whether or not it's worth it to quit really depends on what you want to do with yourself.

[yingwenlaoshi]

I've heard that 2 weeks is the key.

[mises]

[Jane]

I'm quitting too right now (well have been for the past month or two!) and I've been slowly reading a book by Allen Carr (I forget the name)...it is helpful in a way because he focusses on the good things about not smoking as opposed to the bad things about smoking.
It's actually starting to make a lot of sense (hard to do with dealing with an irrational addiction), it's a matter of getting through the tough first few weeks.
I recommend the book even though I'm still smoking a few smokes here and there - much less than before (he claims to keep smoking till you get to the end of the book), but I feel more confident that I can be a non-smoker. In fact he says, there's no such thing being an ex-smoker. You either are one or not. So, by identifying with the non-smoker image (as opposed to ex-smoker), it will help keep you smoke-free.
I won't go into more detail of what he says here, but if you need just an extra push to get you to remain a non-smoker, I recommend the book.

[yingwenlaoshi]

I'm smoking a cigarette right now. It's hanging from my lips as I type. And it's goooooooooooood.

[Jane]

[Mochi]

3 years ago I quit in the same way - just stopped smoking, cold turkey, without having planned to. I haven't had one since. I can completely relate to the feeling of losing a friend.

If you are over 30, as I am, you come to the point where you realize you have to either quit smoking, or die from it. That helped me stay strong. Not forking over money to Big Tobacco as one of their thralls... that helped too. Mostly, quitting is so unpleasant that when you get to a point, you've gone through so much painful withdrawl that the thought of ever, ever doing it again is enough to keep you on the rails.

Took me 6 months to kick the habit, but the good news is, when the monkey leaves your back, he leaves. Is it worth it? Oh, hell yes.

[samd]

You can do it. I've been cold turkey since xmas and it gets easier every day.

[AgDragon01]

I quit a couple years back, and it was one of the hardest things for me to do. But I feel great having done it. 2 weeks is hard, 3 months in was even harder. After that it started getting easier. If you mess up, don't worry, just keep going. My roommate was a complete bastard and used to light a cigarette for himself and one for me every time he had a cig, and even bought me carton when I was trying to quit. Now, I not only don't crave it, I'm really repelled by cigarette smoke. Good luck!

[Whitey Otez]

I switched to Marlboro One. Now my smoker and non-smoker friends alike think I'm pathetic. Time to kick the habit, I guess.

[blurgalurgalurga]

Yeah, quitting is tough, but it's totally do-able. I quit for four years. Then I started smoking again; whoops. Now I don't smoke again, but it's only been a week and a bit.
Here's what I found:
1) After quitting, pleasure happens less and is less intense than usual.
2) Grumpiness and irritability are common.
3) Intense nicotine cravings happen a fair bit over the first few days, then less often, but even at their worst never lasted more than THIRTY SECONDS EACH. Telling myself "I ain't smoking right now" got me through the worst nic fits.
4) Having a non-smoker girlfriend helps a lot.
5) Doing a few quick sets of push-ups or scrunchies or burpees is a good thing to do when I have a nic fit. Doesn't really work in bars, though...
6) Boozing makes me weak, and is best avoided for a while. Also booze is a depressant (though it doesn't feel so, when I'm drunk) and makes me crave instant gratifications like cigs and junk food, so I need to be careful of heavy drunkeness for the near future.

Anyway, it's not that bad. I need to just remember that my bad moods are just a neurochemical re-alignment and not to be taken too seriously.

[Forward Observer]

Here's that book by Alan Carr

http://www.scribd.com/doc/1012536/Allen-Carr-Easy-Way-to-Stop-Smoking

Enjoy