The difference between a subconscious nicotine feeding expectations cue generating a short yet often intense crave episode, and a smoking stimulus cue that causes the conscious mind to fixate on the thought of smoking is often subtle but with a few important distinctions.
First, for the most part, the subconscious episode is beyond the conscious mind's ability to control in intensity or duration, whereas conscious thought fixation can last as long or be as brief as you yourself decide.
Next, most subconscious links are broken with a single encounter when the subconscious does not receive the expected result - a new supply of nicotine. The subconscious does not barter, plot, carry a grudge or engage in rational thought. But not so with the conscious mind. The sight or smell of a cigarette can be the conscious mind's cue to think about smoking regardless of whether or not the desire gets satisfied, and conscious bargaining or romantic fixations can last as long as we desire to entertain them.
It's been five years since I smoked nicotine and my memories of the early days are not what they once were but let's use seeing someone smoke in a movie as an example. Such an event could have been a subconscious trigger for many of us, and the first time encountering it may have generated a short yet intense crave episode. The second time we saw someone smoking in a movie, and lots of subsequent times, may have been a conscious cue that reminded us about smoking, that turned our attention to thoughts of wanting to smoke nicotine. Eventually, we each arrive at that magic point in time where we each still notice actors smoking in movies but no longer find ourselves thinking about wanting to smoke. Many of you will begin to see the event for what it truly is (a mandatory feeding of nicotine's two-hour chemical half-life) or possibly speculate on the conscious or subconscious interactions at work. It's an amazing journey!
Boiled down, staying on this side of the bars and keeping our now arrested dependency on the other involves only one rule ... no nicotine today ... Never Take Another Puff! John (Gold x5)