Smoking.... the American Experience....

I went to my Doctor to ask his help to quit smoking.  He ask "Do you really want to quit?"  I said "Yes, how about some nicotine patches?"  He said "The secret to quitting smoking is that YOU have to REALLY want to quit, otherwise all of the gadgets or gimicks will not help.  If you want to quit, then quit, You have 4 days to get through to get the nicotine out of your system and after that you have to get through is changing what you do with your hands, it is no longer about the addiction to nicotine."

I took that advise to heart and 10 years later I still no longer smoke.  The first four days was rough but I did find a crutch that helped and I got through it.  My crutch was a drinking straw cut in half, it took the place of the cigarette in my hand, and it allowed me to take a big drag of clean fresh air to give me the full feeling in my lungs.  DOC was right, I had tried twenty times before but really didn't want to quit.  Once I decided that I really really wanted to I could and I did.  The straws were a big help. but getting real about what I wanted was the real key.  Get past the four days and you are good to go, have one cigarette you start the torture all over again, four more days.  You can do it, I did. Every time I have a beer I still think of cigarettes and I remember the taste, but you couldn't get me to smoke one. I REALLY wanted to quit.