How to Quit Smoking

 

I, finally and officially, Quit Smoking and today is the seventh day. 21 March 2008 was the starting day.

It’s been a long while that the intention and willingness to call it a day emerged. What I need was a momentum to start afresh the whole thing. Includng to begin leaving the “chain-smoker” label behind.

And when the moment came, I took it with both hand. Now, it’s the seventh day I live without any cigarette smokes filling my lung. Some friends amazed, surprised and shocked. But it’s just natural to go from one extreme to another if you’re determined to do so. Nothing is impossible.

INDEX

1. First Anniversary of Quit Smoking
2. Second Anniversary of Quit Smoking
3. Third Anniversary of Quit Smoking

So, to quit smoking is simple insofar as I am concerned. First, you got to have a serious intention and willingness to change a particular habit. Second, pick the most important moment of your lives to start with e.g. the birth of your most awaited son, your birthday, etc. Third, be consistent. Never try to fool your self by “Hey, it’s ok to try just once a day.” When you decide to stop smoking, it means stop it altogether never try it even once. Period.

First Anniversary of Quit Smoking

quit-smokingsI’ve never celebrated any of my birthday. I’ve also barely attended any birthday celebration of my friends. I always insist that celebrating one’s birthday is a waste of time. Besides birthday is not worth celebrating. If anything, everyday should be celebrated because every single day is important. For me, today is as important as yesterday, tomorrow, next month and next year, etc.

But this time around I want to do it. I should celebrate this day–even just by writing about it– because I consider today as one of those pivotal moment in my life. An achievement of short. Today last year was where I started to quit smoking. And from then on not a single cigarette comes in between my lips. It’s been a big success because I’ve been trying many times before to no avail.

And I am happy with that. I am happy for more than one reasons:

First, independence. In my whole life what I feel proud of myself, if anything, is my independency. For the better or the worse, I am proud of the fact that I am known as independent individual who doesn’t like to depend on something or someone or at least try hard to be so. Being independent is a virtue which make a person’s dignity, among other things, looks outstanding. Despite dependency on smoking is nothing to do with it, it feels good to be independence from it.

Second, health. Ask every chain smokers, deep in their hearts they worried about the future of their health. They keep smoking because they simply couldn’t get away from this habit. I am happy I no longer have that health-scary feeling.

Third, feeling more freedom literally. If you going abroad frequently you’d feel more freedom literally if you are not a smoker. More and more airports are restricting smokers to smoke freely. Some airports give a smoking-area which is narrower by the day. Making the smokers like a bunch of drug addicts gathering in one place for something many people wonder. By quit smoking, you’ll no longer have the drug-addict image. More important, you no longer feel marginalized.

Fourth, sexy mouth. Well, ask your spouse. Your mouth smells sexier without cigarette.

Second Anniversary of Quit Smoking

Today is the second anniversary I should celebrate for quit smoking.

I’m thankful to my wife for making sure that I will not touch the cigarette ever again.

To commemorate the Quit Smoking Day on May 31, Priyadi, an Indonesian blogger, calls for all Indonesian bloggers to make three statement to quit smoking. In India, the government has decided to put the skull and cross-bone in every cigarette packs as obligatory.

Is the Priyadi’s calling and the Indian gov. new rules will stop smokers from smoking and polluting the environment? Unlikely. Unless and until the government take a comprehensive decision which includes the total close-down of cigarette companies and the plantation of tobacco.

Smokers movement has been limited a lot. In India like in some other countries in the West you cannot smoke in public places and inside/outside airport, so the rules. The facts are cigarette still sold everywhere. It’s like a mother prohibit her 10-year-old kid to eat cookies and at the same time put it in front of him/her. Well, a cigarette addict is a kid in its matured form.

Having a chain smokers myself, and been through success-and-fail try to quit, my five suggestion to government if they are serious enough to banish smoking habit from Indonesian people–because I strongly believe, only the gov. has the power and capacity to make a quit smoking campaign’s not merely a joke–are as follows:

1. Close the cigarette companies;
2. Stop farmers from planting tobacco;
3. Stop clove farmers (because Indonesian cigarette blended with clove).
4. Smoking as criminal offence
5. All four prohibition are non bailable offences.

What do you think? :)

Third Anniversary of Quit Smoking

Today is the third year of my breakaway from smoking. On 21 Third Year without Smoking

21 March 2007 I made up my mind to stop smoking altogether. And this time I have succeeded to go by each day and year without any intention to put cigarette on my lips again.

And because of sheer difficulty of a heavy chain smoker like me to stop smoking and succeed, I celebrate the success of the quit smoking program every year just like everyone celebrate their birthday. You may see I celebrated the first “birthday” and the second birthday.

I hope it’ll motivate other smokers to do the same.

I have been through repeated attempts previously to quit smoking without any success. So, ‘what made the attempt successful this time around?’, a friend asked me. The answer being: strong willingness to stop smoking should be accompanied with a right intention beyond yourself to have a stronger motivation. The right motivation that worked for me being I did quit smoking for the sake of my family. To protect them, the kids and their mother.

I used to intend to stop smoking for my own health. But that was not working because a smoker does not so concern to his own health.