Have you ever gone through an ashtray in search of the longest butt?

Response #4 in the topic Stronger or smarter?
Hello Dave:
I actually wrote a few responses to other people's posts on this very issue in the past but for the life of me I can't remember when or to who. It may very well have been here before you were ever a member. The fact is that you overcome nicotine addiction by being smarter than nicotine not stronger than nicotine. If a person were stronger than his or her addiction he or she would have controlled smoking at a level of one or two a day or one or two a week. People here lost their ability to do that--most years or decades ago. It is because they crossed a line of addiction and now nicotine became much stronger than the individual.
But no smoker is doomed to be a smoker because they are weaker than nicotine for if they become educated and then stay smarter as you say, they have the tools to in place to keep control over their addiction. Every one of our members prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt every day they stay smoke free.
The other important point you raised here is that nicotine cessation is not like dieting. In a way though it is easier--for the battle line between total success and total failure is much more clearly defined. The string Why so hard on cheating? addresses this discrepancy.
Hang in there Dave. These little self realizations help clearly define the problem of nicotine addiction. The more you learn and realize about what smoking really was, the better equipped you will stay to make this quit the last quit you will ever have to do because you will happily stick to your commitment to never take another puff!

Joel


Edited 2 times by FreedomNicotine Oct 27 10 2:37 PM.