To successfully quit smoking, first you need to believe that it is completely possible. If you can imagine a life without cigarettes, for sure you can turn that vision into reality.
You are not Born Smoker
No one is born smoker. The human brain is not hardwired to smoke. It is simply a habit that some people have developed somewhere sometime in their life, and for various reasons. Some did it to ‘fit’ into the crowd and win friends, while others did it to look ‘cool’ in front of others, deal with a stressful situation, or overcome loneliness. No smoker has tried to use tobacco to get hooked. People who are addicted to cigarettes never thought they would be hooked and would find it hard to get rid of the habit.
Unfortunately, cigarettes are no ordinary cigarettes. They are drugs that contain an addictive substance called nicotine. Once inhaled, this chemical reaches the brain in a few seconds. Just one hit is enough for nicotine to affect the feel-good receptors in the brain and change its pleasure circuitry – giving the person a ‘high’ feeling. But the feel-good effect of nicotine does not last for long. It stays there for several minutes. And when it goes down, the brain starts to crave for it. Here’s where the vicious cycle continues.
A Life without Cigarettes
If you have been smoking for a long, long time now, you have probably forgotten what life is like without cigarettes is. You probably have forgotten what it feels like to breathe fresh air. One good way to start your journey towards better health is to imagine a life without cigarettes. Supported by latest research, visualization is an effective way to re-train the brain, overcome nicotine addiction, and reinforce new behaviors.
Life without cigarettes is not all doom and gloom like what many smokers things. For instance, in a 2011 study published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that while some smokers have concerns that their quality of life may deteriorate if they stop smoking, smokers who quit successfully, long-term, experience no such deterioration due to quitting. Rather, they see improvements. Compared with those who continued to smoke, quitters scored higher on measures of overall quality of life, health and well-being (characterized by positive emotions), both one year and three years on. By the third year of not smoking, they had fewer stressors.
If you have been smoking for a long, long time now, you have probably forgotten what life is like without cigarettes is. You probably have forgotten what it feels like to breathe fresh air. One good way to start your journey towards better health is to imagine a life without cigarettes.
Many smokers think that quitting will reduce their quality of life because they believe it will disrupt routines, make them feel irritable, lead to a loss of smoking-related pleasure, and interfere with their relationship. The study findings revealed that over the long-term, individuals who quit smoking will be happier and more satisfied with their life.
Imagine a life without cigarettes and you will know how great it can be. And before you know it, it has already become a reality.
