Breaking The Habit
Smoking is an addictive habit and like any habit it is hard to stop. We all have routine behaviors that we repeat every day of our lives. They may be subtle and we don't even realize it but they are there and they are hard to stop.
When we talk about quitting smoking we have to add in the addictive nature of nicotine which is a drug the body comes to want and expect. Remove the nicotine and your body will tell you there is something missing that it wants.
This is what makes smoking cessation so difficult and ways to quit smoking are needed to help people quit. It can be tough to resist the temptation of just one more cigarette and so many people succeed in stopping smoking for a few days and then fall prey to that temptation.
It helps if you prepare properly before you stop smoking cigarettes and think about what it is you enjoy about smoking. For some people it is simply the act of having something to do with their hands. For some smokers the habit is in the procedure of sitting with a coffee or a drink and taking out a cigarette and lighting up.
These are all habitual actions and to quit smoking you have to change your ways and your behavior, not just stop smoking. If you always light up a cigarette when you have a coffee you will miss it when it is gone. If you can start taking your coffee somewhere different in a different way it will help break the habit.
If you visit friends and you all smoke together you might need to avoid those friends for a while. You need to remove as much temptation and smoking opportunities as possible.
Giving up smoking is more than just stopping cigarette smoking. You must change your lifestyle and your habitual behaviors so you don't have any desire to smoke cigarettes.
