Smokers who have been trying to quit smoking without any success may find this short article helpful.

1. How I Quit Smoking Cigarettes
Smokers who have been trying to quit smoking without any success may find this short
article helpful.
I am by no means an expert on this subject and am only sharing my experience with
cigarette smoking and how I was able to finally kick the habit.
I started smoking cigarettes during my army days about three months before my 19th
birthday while stationed at Fort Hood Texas.
I think I probably picked up most of my bad habits in the army, with smoking cigarettes
being the one I wish I had never started.
Moving along, I smoked for five years and managed to quit smoking completely without
enduring any withdrawal symptoms.
That lasted for one year and for no justifiable reason I started smoking again.
I blamed my fall from the wagon on stress and nerves but truth was I made the decision
to light up a cigarette one evening after having successfully quit for a whole year.
I continued to smoke for the next eighteen years, sometimes nearly three packs a day,
depending on what I was doing, although a pack and a half was the usual daily nicotine
intake.
If I was out at the bar, I was smoking an average of 2 cigarettes per beer and I drank a lot
when I was younger.
Not so much anymore, less than a 12 pack per year, believe it or not.
It had gotten to the point where I didn’t enjoy smoking cigarettes anymore. It was just a
bad habit and one I was growing tired of quickly.
But I just couldn’t get myself to kick the habit. It’s especially difficult to quit smoking
when you’re socializing with other smokers.
You know what I’m talking about …
Morning coffee?…Gotta have a cigarette. I was chain smoking half a pack everyday just
with my morning coffee of 2-3 cups.
This very unhealthy habit went on for over 18 years since I had started smoking again at
the age of 24 and was definitely taking its toll on me.
The after-dinner cigarette? Oh yeah…gotta get at least 2 smokes in after a good meal.

2. Yes, somehow smoking a cigarette after eating something seemed to make the meal
that much better.
I would sometimes smoke and eat at the same time. I know… insane right?
I would light up every time I got behind the wheel to go somewhere. Driving and
smoking went hand in hand.
I would even take my time getting to my destination so I could get an extra cigarette in
before I arrived to wherever I was going.
I was smoking cigarettes just to be smoking. Five minutes passed since my last smoke?
… Time to light up again…
It was getting ridiculous and out of control.
How Did I Finally Quit Smoking?
Well… the short answer to that question is rather simple but I’ll elaborate a bit to help
you better understand how I quit smoking for good.
I had been wanting to quit since shortly after I started smoking again at the age of 24 but
couldn’t seem to do it as easily as before.
Thing was I was trying to quit and that never worked for me because when I was trying to
quit smoking I was automatically giving myself an out or excuse for failure.
I could easily say…“well, at least I tried”, with no one to hold me accountable other than
myself.
I vowed when and if I ever managed to stop smoking cigarettes again that I would never
start back ever for as long as I lived.
I decided a different approach to quit smoking would best suit me.
Are you ready for me to reveal how I finally was able to kick the habit without any help
whatsoever?
No gum, no doctors, pills, hypnosis… nothing but my own will and strong desire to quit
smoking cigarettes once and for all.
Remember earlier when I said I had made the decision to start smoking again after having
quit for a whole year?
That’s exactly how I quit smoking, by making a decision and acting on that decision.

3. Except this time I have absolutely no intention of ever lighting up another cigarette.
It took too many years to quit again and I am very thankful for the fact that I am no
longer bound by cigarettes…
Able to freely breathe fresh air into my lungs without struggling. I’m not at full capacity
just yet but I feel my lungs getting stronger as each day passes.
I don’t cough and hack uncontrollably anymore and am very thankful for that.
You see, it doesn’t matter what doctor prescribed pill you take or any other stop smoking
method a person uses.
If you haven’t made the decision to quit smoking cigarettes, you won’t quit. You’ll only
be wasting money on stop smoking products.
You may need some assistance in your quest to quit smoking and I don’t condemn that.
Just make sure you really want to quit and have made the distinct decision to quit
smoking before spending any money on any products designed to help you quit smoking.
I understand not everyone is the same. Some people are able to quit cold turkey and
others need some help.
I’m only sharing my experience and trying to emphasize that the decision to quit smoking
first starts with that and then taking action on that decision.
Quit Smoking For Good
To be fair, it didn’t happen overnight for me as it took many years to finally quit
smoking. The last few months I smoked were the most crucial.
I found myself waking up everyday coughing and hacking uncontrollably to the point
where I was literally fed up and knew I had to do something drastic or I’d be dragging
around an oxygen tank before I was 50.
That thought didn’t sit well with me at all. In fact, it scared the SHIT out of me. Not
being able to freely breathe fresh air on my own?
Anyways, one day I was driving out in the Mojave Desert, drinking my morning coffee,
coughing and hacking as had recently become routine in my life…
I reached for my pack of cigarettes, taking one out and was about to light up, still
coughing and hacking…

4. I immediately took the cigarette out of my mouth and said to myself “What the hell am I
doing?”…along with a few other choice words.
I put the cigarette back in the pack and slung them to the far side of the dashboard, out of
reach from me.
I know I could have smoked later if I wanted to but I really didn’t want to. I was through
with smoking cigarettes… for good this time.
That was September 4, 2012 and I haven’t smoked since that day.
Smoking cigarettes for me was just a very bad habit and not the addiction everyone says
they are.
When I realized this, I knew I had it within me to quit.
I don’t miss smoking with my morning coffee, after meals, while driving, or anytime at
all.
It is all irrelevant to me because I am a non-smoker now.
I’ll admit, I did get a slight urge a few times the first month after I quit but nothing strong
enough that would cause me to want to smoke again.
Whenever I got one of those urges I would take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds
and let out.
I repeated this a few times and reminded myself how thankful I was to be a non-smoker.
I even found myself panicking a couple of times, scrambling for my cigarette lighter that
I had misplaced but that was just habit and I quickly came to my senses.
I hope you found this helpful and that my experience somehow inspires you to finally
quit smoking as I have.
http://www.empowernetwork.com/drea/blog/how-i-finally-quit-smoking-without-help/