• I decided on what date I was going to stop 6 months in advance - safely in the distance
• During that 6 months I thought about & wrote down all the reasons why I wanted to stop
• I kept thinking about those reasons
• I told family and friends when I was going to do it - they didn't believe me of course!
• As the day came nearer, I told myself that I was giving up smoking until I was 70 (I was then in my early 40s). If I wanted to start smoking again then I would. This took away that awful feeling that I could never ever again have a cigarette. In the first few days and weeks, whenever I wanted a cigarette I reminded myself that I'd only given up until I was 70.
• I smoked my last cigarette when I was with family & friends and made a point of saying it was my last (at least until I was 70).  They still didn't believe me.

And now:

• I'm 60 and haven't had a cigarette (or even a crafty puff of someone else's) since giving up
• Cigarette smoke now smells totally disgusting to me - a horrible acrid smell quite unlike how it smelled when I was smoking

AND
There's no way I want to go back to it - even when I'm 70!

---

Share this Article!