Quitting Smoke 4 Mirrors

smoking #kills american #spirits

As humans we mirror the methods and ways of those around us. Behavior adopted by our socialization can be undone by focusing on our own reflection. 

Quitting to smoke cigarettes, without desire to return to old ways has changed my day to day. Through a series of self-directed techniques I feel it is time to share the method to the madness that has allowed me to let go a year ago. This experience took me from close to a pack of Marlboro Reds a day to sitting in church on Easter Sunday. 

It began in Palm Beach where I was doing some interior design work with a friend.  Having arrived in Florida on an earlier flight I sat outside the terminal bumming smokes. Something people in New York are not so thrilled to lend, but with the price being something close to a third of what is paid up north, my terminal friends were happy to oblige. 

Skipping ahead to sitting on the beach inhaling puffs of smoke I was thinking as many smokers think, it was time to surrender my beloved habit. I still say it to this day, I was a profound smoker, I woke up to light up and I left the party when my pack was in the trash. 

A quick survey of those reasons included the vanity that although the same size as my beach companion, her ability to ride a bike made her bikini look better from behind. Then of course comes the price. I would be saving something to the figure of $372.00 per month.

Could I save the money and not ruin my figure by substituting empty calories for the cigarettes I used to puff? This is a concern many woman have, so I made the first step to approached my mission to quit like a diet.

By changing habits around I was able to shift my behavior and withdraw from my addiction to nicotine. This brings me to what I identified as possible triggers.

Life.

​ On a more serious note, breakfast, lunch and dinner followed by a smoke is a habitual pattern smokers get into. Lighting to signal that a meal is over, or to distract yourself from continuing a plate of pasta or avoiding awkward dinner conversation is what cigarettes do. Something simple to do, that will please your dentist will be to carry floss or a travel toothbrush and paste to use after meals. 

To fine tune your eating habits to food that will not trigger smoking is extremely important during this phase. Engaging in healthful eating habits will help exemplify why you are letting go of the cigarettes for a clutch. 

Accessories, such as a purse enable us to live a certain lifestyle. By toting a bag big enough for more than what I really needed, I had room for cigarettes, which I could not carry in a clutch. 

This is your chance to carry a clutch normally not used because you can't cram a pack inside with your other necessities . Consider it a fashionable statement to give anxious hands something to hold on to.

Another accessory I developed a healthy habit for was a Bobble. A water bottle that filters tap water acted as my new cigarette. 

Hydration will help as you are going to run to take control of your lungs again. The runners high is satisfying and for those who are young and already moderately in shape it becomes quickly achievable. It will also help to manage stress if you pick up the habit as you coax yourself off cigarettes. 

You should process my experiences and your own relationship to cigarettes to find inspiration inside of yourself to quit. It doesn't have to be a scenario where your parents or significant other is placing guilt on you. This is about changing patterns in your behavior because it is time for you to let go of something you no longer want or need in your life.

One thing that smoking enables is for over-thinkers to over-think. So think about what you would rather be doing other than smoking outside in the cold this winter. Perhaps using that monthly cig expense for a flight to LA.

So before you book that flight:

Look in the mirror as you smoke. Savor the feeling of fullness that comes into your lungs during your remaining allotted time as a smoker. This is when you can begin to reflect on your behavior up close and personal. The moments you have shared with others are no longer an option once you decide to quit. Remove the social aspect and only engage in smoking as an act of solitude. Once you are no longer having a smoke with every friend you have, you will have automatically cut back.

Then you can begin to test yourself. Go to dinner with a non-smoking friend who knows your plan. Get drunk. You will probably beg someone for a smoke. It's fine. Smoke it but feel bad about it. Have your friend make you feel bad about it. Enjoy it, because that was your last time. The next time you replay this game you will have to make it from dinner and drinks to bed without a smoke. 

As you are on your way to bed, lets handle the sex question. The trick here is to make sure it's good enough that you just cannot make it out of the bed of the non-smoker lucky enough to be used to pass another test.  

Fill up your week with tests to gage how you will handle triggers, find yourself naturally letting go of the process and of your last pack. Understanding that past behavior predicts future behavior, I came to the conclusion that the experience had not escaped me. Youthful curiosity turned habitual, could be compiled to memory.

Change your brand, the American Spirits in pale green packaging worked for me. They were so unenjoyable I have 16 left in a pack thats in my kitchen drawer to remind myself that I made a choice.

​Note card made to share news:Montreal, Summer 2012