"Smoking is not an option"
A commonly used phrase on internet quit sites is "Smoking is not an option." The following two videos refer to resources we have set up to explain that the phrase is not true, that smoking is always an option. What is true though and even more important is that "Quitting smoking is an option," and staying off is an option too, options that are doable by all people who make and stick to a personal commitment to never take another puff.
"I don't have a choice, I have to quit smoking"
Quitting smoking is an option
No one should be obsessing on the idea that "you can't smoke." It is not true, you can smoke. You can smoke anytime you want. You can smoke 20 or 40 or 60 or if you really want to make yourself sick to your stomach quickly, maybe even overdosing yourself into cardiac arrest, you could force well over a hundred cigarettes down today just to prove you can smoke. The issue is not that you can't smoke, it is that you can't smoke one without relapsing. Relapsing means you either have to go back to full-fledged smoking again or go through quitting again. Those are both lousy "options." But yes, using your mind set, they are still options. But you have a new option now, a better option or choice to consider. That is if you don't take a puff, not because you can't but because you choose not to, you never have to go through smoking or quitting again.
So don't let anyone tell you what you can or can't do. But ask yourself daily what it is that you want to do. Do you want to take a puff and once again be controlled by a substance. A substance that "makes" you smoke, and "makes" you sick and if left to its own devices will "make" you die, or do you keep control over your own destiny. To keep that control, never take another puff!'
Some commentaries I had written at the Freedom from Nicotine board on this concept:
Ex-smokers do always have the option to take a cigarette. But there are only two legitimate reasons for taking a cigarette or a puff now.
1) You want to go back to full-fledged smoking until it cripples and kills you. or 2) You enjoy withdrawal so much you never want it to end. If this is the case just take one puff every third day, withdrawal will last forever.
Smoking is an option! It is an option that people "live" to regret. They just don't live as long and they don't live as healthy as if they pursued their other option–not smoking. To pursue health and life always remember to never take another puff!
An easy way to remember that you don't want to smoke while Freedom is down. Your options with cigarettes are an all or nothing proposition. Always consider smoking in all its glory–the smells, the expenses, the social implications, the constant need of feeding yourself nicotine to alleviate the chronic withdrawals encountered from nicotine depletion experienced 10 to 80 times a day, the burns, the stigmas, the stares, the health effects and the risk to your very life and you will always revel in the fact that you have opted to never take another puff!
It was just mentioned that smoking is not an option. Smoking actually is an option, just not an option that anyone would want if they considered the full ramifications that go with it. It is an option that will cost you your health and eventually your life. To pursue the other option of staying smoke free always remember to never take another puff!
For anyone working under the false perception that smoking is not an option. Smoking is an option, just not an option that anyone would want if they considered the full ramifications of all the problems that go with smoking. It is an option that will make you slave to a drug, smell awful, be a social outcast in many circles, cause many people to question your overall intelligence, will rob you of your money, your health and eventually your life. To pursue the other option of staying smoke free is as simple as always remembering to never take another puff!
Joel
Other related resources:
- What is your quit smoking mantra?
- "I want one"
- Fixating on a cigarette
- "Don't let a slip put you back to using"
- Quitting smoking can make you calmer, happier and healthier
- An important choice must be made today
