[microcentury]

For any smokers out there reading this and thinking, 'God I will never quit if I have to spend the rest of my life resisting the urge for a cigarette', like this article says, note that it doesn't have to be that way. I quit smoking six months ago and every day without cigarettes is a blessing. I _hated_ smoking, and I wanted to stop, and for years and years I couldn't stop. And then I did, and I am free, and it is wonderful. Why the hell would I want to go back to the thing that I hated and was killing me, like this person? If you see cigarettes for what they really are, as a non-smoker sees them, how could you ever want to smoke?

These arguments come from Allnn Carr's stop smoking methodology. You can read his book or do a seminar. And for those out there who say 'it doesn't work': I read that book the first time in 2003, and probably more than ten times since. I attended the seminar three times. It was finally the online seminar that made the ideas click for me. (The breakthrough was the realisation that the response that says 'I want a cigarette' is a broken thought process that was learned, i.e. is not natural, and can be unlearned.) Now that the ideas have clicked into place for me I am absolutely certain I will never smoke again. When I hear the 'I want a cigarette' thought, I don't have a melancholy response that I can't smoke. I hated smoking! I have a happy response that I have learned how to get back to very close to the state I was in before I ever smoked at all.

Anyway, I am sure this article is well-intentioned, but I would strongly strongly suggest that if you haven't tried Allan Carr's method you give it a shot, and if you have tried it, give it another try. Smoking is a nightmare from which we all can awake.

[corin_]

If you hate smoking then it makes sense that when you manage to shake the addiction you'll be glad about it. Many smokers, myself included, enjoy cigarettes. I'm quitting currently, but if I could get rid of the health risks then I'd keep going forever even if I wasn't addicted.

[microcentury]

Have a look at the book or seminar - the enjoyment of cigaretts is dealt with at length and forms a core pillar of the argument. If you don't want to quit though, then you don't want to quit and nothing is going to make you open the book with an open mind.

[corin_]

It's very possible to quit while still maintaining that you enjoy smoking.

[microcentury]

I'm sure that it is, and many people seem to do it. However, it's a lot easier to see smoking as it really is and be happy to walk away from it.

[corin_]

What do you mean "see smoking as it really is"? Obviously we do see the negatives, otherwise we wouldn't quit at all. That doesn't change anything about the fact that smoking can be an extremely enjoyable activity.