Smoking cigarettes used to be a great deal more popular than it is today. Now most smokers are looking for methods of stopping smoking. This is because smokers and the general public at large are more conscious of the dangers of smoking cigarettes these days.
Just look at films manufactured in the Sixties and before, everyone is smoking. It shows how common smoking was compared with today. This would not be possible now as you may not smoke in public places, on public transport, in restaurants or in bars any more in most Western countries and elsewhere too.
The problem with smoking is that not only the smoker suffers, so does everyone around about the smoker. This is known as passive smoking and it has an effect on those working or living with smokers – a barmaid or a spouse for example. So, all these individuals are endangering their health so that tobacco firms can become richer.
No matter how long someone has been smoking, it is possible to quit the habit. Anyone who has stopped smoking will tell you that stopping smoking cigarettes is all to do with the mind. You really have to desire to stop smoking or you will not do it successfully.
People have different ways of stopping smoking cigarettes. Some say that nicotine patches or nicotine gum help, because you can wean yourself off nicotine gradually without having to inhale the poisonous smoke of cigarettes. Nicotine is extremely addictive and most of the chemical withdrawal symptoms have to do with the shortage of nicotine in the body.
Most individuals find that the single effective way of stopping smoking cigarettes is to stop smoking dead – in one go. It is very hard to cut down or to switch to a weaker brand. You are still inhaling poisonous smoke. It is still no good to you or anyone about you.
Cutting down or switching brands is not effective, because you will still smoke other smokers’ and you will still be in a smokers’ environment. You will also find yourself smoking tomorrow’s five cigarettes today, swearing not to smoke any the next day. That never works. You have to stop smoking dead.
There are a number of situations that can provide the motivation to quit smoking cigarettes. Illness is usually high on the list. A few years ago two friends of mine who smoked heavily stopped smoking cigarettes within weeks of each other.
One was in his sixties and had smoked for almost sixty years: he was told that his lungs were starting to go, but that if he stopped smoking, the shock may kill him. He quit smoking one morning and survived, but what a dilemma!
The other was in his fifties and drove a great deal as a travelling salesman. The doctor told him that he would probably have to have a leg removed next year, if he did not give up smoking and that the other may go a year or so after that. He stopped smoking instantly and still has both legs.
So it seems that the trick to stopping smoking cigarettes successfully is to find your motivation (do you want to live long enough to see the grandchildren married?) and bear that image in front of you at all times. Take nicotine substitutes if you have to and stay away from environments where individuals smoke more, like pubs.Join a sports club instead, something like tennis, table tennis, swimming or even chess.
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