Helping people quit smoking
All week we’re helping Great Day viewers with their new year’s resolutions. Today, Clayton shared a lot of tips on how to quit smoking. He was live all morning from The American Lung Association talking about creating a quit date, and tools to make that quit last. There are options like the nicotine patch or nicotine gum. There are lollypops and support groups - lots of options because everyone’s quit plan and quit personality is clearly different. I think this viewer eloquently speaks of that quit personality that’s important for us non-smokers to understand and respect. Let me share my congratulations to those taking the first step, and my respect for you taking that second step.
Peace, Kim
In watching the show today, I couldn’t help but feel compelled to share some thoughts on quitting smoking.
First, I am 72 ½ hours nicotine free as of right this minute. I am not happy about it. I do not want any congratulations as I do not feel it is a cause for celebration. It is more of a mourning. Mourning a death. A loss. The loss of my constant companion of 17 years. We never spent a moment apart. We traveled together, we went to work together, got ready together, partied together. It was there first thing in the morning and right before I went to bed, when I needed a break, was feeling happy, sad, frustrated, socially awkward, needed time to think.
I feel like I lost my best friend.
Non-smokers like to throw out health as a reason to quit. As if we don’t know what we are doing is unhealthy. It’s not that we don’t know, it’s that we don’t care. Getting healthy is not a motivator. We knew what we were doing was unhealthy, we did it anyway.
I guess my point is this: people who don’t smoke and who never have smoked can’t possibly understand how hard it is to quit. This isn’t stopping a bad habit, this is making a total lifestyle change. And it is not fun. It is terrible and so hard I can’t even find the words to describe it. You can talk about lollipops and working out, but at the end of the day, the truth is that it’s not one day at a time, it’s one minute at a time. In my opinion, the best thing you can do for someone you know who is trying to quit is not talk about it. We are doing everything we can to take our mind off it, so thank you for trying to be nice and encouraging, it is appreciated, but one sentence is plenty. Do not go on and on, you are just going to make us want to smoke by talking about smoking! Smoking is the only addiction where you aren’t forced into a 30 day, locked down treatment program. There is no half-way house. You still have to go through your day to day activities right off the bat.
Anyway, just wanted to lend a little perspective today from someone going though it. Two cents from a viewer who can really relate to the show today!
Peace, Kim
In watching the show today, I couldn’t help but feel compelled to share some thoughts on quitting smoking.
First, I am 72 ½ hours nicotine free as of right this minute. I am not happy about it. I do not want any congratulations as I do not feel it is a cause for celebration. It is more of a mourning. Mourning a death. A loss. The loss of my constant companion of 17 years. We never spent a moment apart. We traveled together, we went to work together, got ready together, partied together. It was there first thing in the morning and right before I went to bed, when I needed a break, was feeling happy, sad, frustrated, socially awkward, needed time to think.
I feel like I lost my best friend.
Non-smokers like to throw out health as a reason to quit. As if we don’t know what we are doing is unhealthy. It’s not that we don’t know, it’s that we don’t care. Getting healthy is not a motivator. We knew what we were doing was unhealthy, we did it anyway.
I guess my point is this: people who don’t smoke and who never have smoked can’t possibly understand how hard it is to quit. This isn’t stopping a bad habit, this is making a total lifestyle change. And it is not fun. It is terrible and so hard I can’t even find the words to describe it. You can talk about lollipops and working out, but at the end of the day, the truth is that it’s not one day at a time, it’s one minute at a time. In my opinion, the best thing you can do for someone you know who is trying to quit is not talk about it. We are doing everything we can to take our mind off it, so thank you for trying to be nice and encouraging, it is appreciated, but one sentence is plenty. Do not go on and on, you are just going to make us want to smoke by talking about smoking! Smoking is the only addiction where you aren’t forced into a 30 day, locked down treatment program. There is no half-way house. You still have to go through your day to day activities right off the bat.
Anyway, just wanted to lend a little perspective today from someone going though it. Two cents from a viewer who can really relate to the show today!
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