My Smoking Story: How I Stopped

“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.” Abraham H. Maslow I was a smoker who was savoring every stick, taking pleasure in every puff, and feeling satisfaction with every cloud of smoke produced. I was enjoying tobacco physically and psychologically. I loved the process itself and the relaxing effect it gave my body. I rejoiced the positive images it was giving my mind – trendiness, modernity, success. The images were so vivid; they appeared to be so real. With such an attitude, I could be smoking my whole life. Good thing our attitudes do change. At certain points, especially after nights out on the weekends—when I surely had more than I should’ve had—I was contemplating quitting them. These thoughts, however, evaporated as quickly as they came, especially when a desire for the next dose was ripening. Noticeable changes to my thinking pattern started happening after I got married. As Oscar Wilde noted, “Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.” And we talked. She was the one who carefully planted in my mind the seed of an idea that my life should be free from smoking in the nearest future. Back then it seemed a frightening possibility: a possibility, since I did believe it would be probable one day; frightening, as I was dreading failure. The birth of my first daughter was a good enough catalyst for this seed to germinate. The more time passed, the more I was becoming estranged from tobacco psychologically, even though I continued to love it with every cell of my dependent body. I knew I was not doing a right thing to myself and then especially, to my baby, when I was smoking around her. rnI decided to reach for The Book. I had heard about The Book several times before, that book that changed the lives of millions of people around the world, that same book that was on the sure road to alter my life once and forever… if it could only reach me. Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking could allegedly do miracles to my body, move mountains in my mind, and actually grant me a new life. It could do many things but one: make me read it. I had to do it myself. I even got it free from a colleague. All I had to do was to read it. After one year of having it, I read it even though I wasn’t completely ready. I realized there would never be a perfect time to stop smoking, so I read it anyway. I loved every single page, I devoured every paragraph, and I relished every sentence. It was as if I knew it even then: reading it would mean a total change in my living paradigm. I was so anxious to finish the book and start the new life, that I couldn’t wait until the evening to complete the last chapter. I did it at work as soon as I could, and around noon on 28 August 2008 I extinguished my last cigarette and became a free man again. Something just clicked in my mind: I realized I didn’t need cigarettes in my life. I understood that smoking was not cool. I recognized that tobacco was gradually killing me. I comprehended that life without cigarettes was much more vivid and fulfilling. My total mindset has changed. Cigarettes became no longer attractive. Allen Carr managed to disclose all the truths regarding the tobacco and the smoking itself, so I saw them for what they were, not for what they claimed to be. And I surely didn’t like what I saw. Familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes. So I stopped them. You can do it too. The memories from those days have faded out a bit, but I clearly remember the rainbow of tastes and smells that I started noticing everywhere and in everything. I felt I was using my nose and my tongue again. I actually started sleeping less but feeling much more energetic. I began breathing deeply without any roaring sounds. Coughing became so rare I totally forgot about it. I was born again to a normal life. As was noted by Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Man is a creature that can get accustomed to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him.” I needed to stop smoking to realize how much I have gotten used to the negativities tobacco and to appreciate the beauty of the no-smoking life even more. It’s been 4 years now since I stopped cigarettes or any other tobacco products, and I can say the following: if you’re still smoking, you don’t know what you’re missing. Life without cigarettes is great! It’s much more healthy, dynamic, and interesting. It’s more promising and more giving. Life without tobacco feels better, smells better, and tastes better. Try it. You will love it. And you will help others around you who are still suffering in the nicotine yoke.