| Tootsall: « Reply #2 on: Oct 22nd, 2003, 6:03pm »
Man, that's a toughie. If there was a "magic formula" the owner would be making millions! I used to smoke up to 2 packs a day when I was in university (of course, they were MUCH cheaper then...that was 35 years ago). The funny thing is, over time I've been able to cut back to where I don't buy them at all any longer but will accept one in certain social settings if someone offers. In other words, I can take'em (and sometimes do) or leave 'em (and sometimes do). I probably don't smoke any more than 20 or 30 cigarettes a year. Why not stop completely? I dunno...why not stop drinking alcohol completely? or why not always drive at or below the speed limit? or give up possibly risky sports?
How was this accomplished? I don't really know. Peer pressure maybe? The high cost? The fact that my wife used to bring home Xrays and photos of the disected lungs of ex-smokers (and ex-living!) might have had something to do with it. Sleeping in hotel rooms that had been frequented by smokers? (those pillows? yeeeeuck!)
The thing is that once you get USED to being "smoke free" you notice very strongly the tobacco odors on other people who are smokers....light OR heavy smokers! A lot of fresh air helps too. I know that when I get in a "relatively" polluted atmosphere like a city (or a welding shop) I'm more likely to accept a smoke than when I'm outdoors in fresh air.
We're slowly implementing an absolute ban on smoking in our workplace. There are a few folks who are very bitter about this new policy but they've been offered programs for a couple of years and several of them simply refuse to even consider giving up their smokes (and those smokes are getting up to $9.00 a pack here). The fewer smokers you are around, the less strong the "cravings" are.... and as I recall you are in a situation where there are liable to be a lot of smokers.
I know one guy who managed to quit smoking by convincing his wife to let him buy a sports car, arguing (successfully) that the cost of smoking would offset the cost of the car. To my knowledge he's kept his promise "cold turkey". It's been about 4 years for him now. Maybe you could make a promise to yourself to bring back one of those Mercedes Kompressor models as a "reward" when you rotate back to the U.S.! (With the trunk full of good beer, of course).
Motivation. |