Having reasons to quit don't get 'er done.
You have to have made the DECISION (Commitment) to quit.
Monkeyleg -- you've said it yourself. You have tons of good reasons, but the truth is you don't WANT to quit. You haven't made the decision.
Old Fud, that's the point I was trying to make over on the topic of the legalization of drugs.
As mentioned, I have a BIL who's hit rock bottom with crack and cocaine. But he apparently isn't ready to quit, even though his life is pretty much destroyed.
And no substance abuser--whether the substance is cigarettes, cocaine, heroin, booze, or any other addictive substance--will quit until he or she reaches the point where the abuser says "enough."
I'm getting to that point, but I'm not there yet. And, to be honest, I don't know what it's going to take to get me to that point.
My brother who quit cold turkey got the ultimatim from his wife: it was the cigarettes or her.
HTG, don't you think I know all that after 40 years of smoking?
A year ago, my wife and I went to a neighbor's New Years Eve party. From 7 pm until 1 am, I didn't smoke a single cigarette. I had some beers, shot pool, and watched a lot of other people act silly. But, for six straight hours, I didn't smoke. That's a lifetime for me.
And I've gone almost as long in other situations without smoking.
So I know I can do it.
But, despite all of the reasons you cited and I cited, I'm just not there yet.
Maybe I'll have to be dying to be there.
That's where my FIL was. He was even going outside for cigarettes when he was being treated for lung cancer.
My oldest brother, the one with emphysema, is on inhalers and oxygen. And he's still smoking.
I have an old friend--old in age, and old by our association--who is now an AA counselor.
He's described to me the lowest depths to which he sunk while drinking. I never even imagined such things could be possible.
Yet, he continued to drink.
And, as he's told me so many times since, no addict to any substance will give it up until he or she sees that it's time to give it up or else. What the "else" might be is personal.
I can see the "else." $700 a month? Yeah, that's an "else." Pneumonia every year or so? Yeah, that's an "else." Wanting another newer car? Another "else."
When I read posts like those from HTG and others, I feel like a weakling. Then others who are personally strong but who have struggled with addictions make me feel like less of a loser.
HTG, last year was the first time in 39 years that my wife and I even talked about quitting smoking. The subject never even came up.
Tobacco is more addictive than practically any other drug--legal or otherwise--that's available.
I wish I could grab the cigarette from every young kid's mouth I see and stomp on it.
