Stay Quit Forever ~ Surviving The Quitting Experience After The Smoke Clears

MAINTAINING YOUR FREEDOM AFTER THE SMOKE CLEARS

LIFE AFTER CIGARETTES....GOING BEYOND THE QUIT

Quitting smoking is easy. Staying quit, however, is the hardest thing you'll ever try to do! If it were not so, this site would be completely unnecessary as would all of the other websites and resources out there to help people break free from their horrible addiction of smoking. No matter how long you have been quit, you must always keep your guard up and know that danger lurks everywhere. Temptations to smoke can come years after you have smoked your last cigarette. It is up to you and how you choose to deal with those moments that will decide on whether or not you get to keep the quit that you have fought so hard to preserve.

After being quit for as long as 20 years, there will come moments when the urge to smoke will occur. By then it isn't a craving like you experience in the early days of quitting. It is more like a notion or, as I like to call it, a "random stupid thought". And although they are completely controllable at that stage of a quit, they are still dangerous and can lead to trouble. It is important to know how to handle these moments properly, and to understand fully the consequences of giving in to the temptation of smoking even one cigarette. As you will see, even seasoned quitters sometimes need to be reminded of how to recognize the hidden dangers that can linger and make themselves manifest far into the quit. Quitting is a challenge that lasts a lifetime

WHEN GOOD GOOD QUITS GO BAD
We all make mistakes and do things we know we shouldn't do. And it happens to a lot of people who have quit smoking. Life happens and some people decide to use their circumstance as a reason to start back to smoking as if it is going to make everything better. Most people who relapse claim it is the stress of their situation that does it.

Some of the things that people use as excuses to smoke are:
Loss of a loved one
Loss of a job
Financial stress
Having an auto accident
Domestic problems
Pressure at work or school
Weddings
Loss of a pet
Learning of a medical condition
Boredom

Let's face it...smoking a cigarette is not going to get your job back, bring back a deceased loved one, improve your grades or job performance, fix your car, or solve any other problems you might be having in your life. And, contrary to popular belief, smoking will not reduce or eliminate stress. In fact, if anything, it will increase it! I'm not downplaying or making light of any of the situations listed above, but I am saying that smoking is not the answer. If you are serious about keeping your quit, you have to guard it with everything within you and not allow life's events steal it from you. You must find new ways to deal with old problems and not allow smoking to even be on your list of options.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "JUST ONE"
I find it amazing that anyone would be willing to put a cigarette between their lips and light it after many years of remaining smoke free and having total freedom from the need to smoke at all. Yet over the past several years I have encountered a great number of people who have done just that. And, in nearly every single case, the story was the same. Those unfortunate people believed the biggest lie ever told when it comes to smoking, and thought that they could have "just one" cigarette without any aftereffect or repercussion.

If it were possible to have "just one", then why quit. You could have a cigarette whenever you wanted to and not have to worry about wanting or needing another one until you were ready. But we all know it doesn't work like that. At least not for 99.5% of smokers (yes, there are a few rare souls out there that can).

Here's how the whole "just one" scenario normally plays out and takes a successful quitter back to square one. There is very little variation in 95% of the stories I have heard from dozens of quitters who have stumbled and fallen after having gone years without smoking, with one person even losing a 20 year quit. About the only difference might be the circumstance that led the quitter to believe it was okay to try having "just one", but the process beyond the lighting of that first cigarette and the impending full relapse is just about always the same.

The First Cigarette
When a quitter decides to smoke "just one" cigarette after being quit for a long time, it is usually because they feel like they are in control. They feel that way because they have been able to say no thousands upon thousands of times during a period of many years, and believe they can say no if the urge should arise again after having "just one". Althought it is just the addiction speaking, they choose to proceed anyhow and light one up and smoke it. Some say they enjoyed the experience and others claim they didn't, but they all seem to agree that smoking that one cigarette was accompanied by mixed feelings of excitement, guilt, and paranoia.

The Aftermath
After smoking that first cigarette, most of the people expected to start craving again, but it never happened. They felt safe, and satisfied, in knowing that they were able to fulfill their desire to enjoy "just one" cigarette again after having been deprived for so long. Most felt even more in control than they did before they made the decision to try smoking again, and felt like they were cured from their addiction. They actually felt like it was safe to enjoy an occasional cigarette and felt good knowing they could possibly even do it again sometime without having to worry about craving.

Let's Try That Again!
Once the elation had passed, the quitters returned once again to their non-smoking lifestyles. Then, after a week or two passes since the first cigarette, the quitter feels confident that they can enjoy "just one more". After all, they had the first one without any experiencing any problems or even having the slightest desire to smoke again after that. Why couldn't they have another go at it? What could it hurt? So they smoke another cigarette, and this time they feel less guilt and actually enjoy it more than the first one because they know there is no danger of becoming addicted if they maintain the control and not allow the cigarette to have the upper hand.

Setting The Hook
The second affair with smoking also fails to create a craving in the aftermath, so the quitter now feels more confident than ever that they CAN smoke whenever they wish and that they can enjoy an occasional cigarette without becoming addicted again so long as they can maintain the control. And even if they do become addicted again, they can just quit again, right? After all, they have already proven to their self that they can do it, and with years of experience, quitting wouldn't be nearly as hard as it was the first time around. So, within a week or two after having the second cigarette, most of the victims buy a pack and begin to rationalize with themselves, deciding that they will only smoke one in the morning with a cup of coffee, or perhaps in the evening with a beer. Maybe just on weekends when they are doing something special.

And so it goes, and they stick to their planned smoking schedule just fine for a while. But only for a short while. Within a month, most of them are back to smoking full time and smoking just as much as they did before they ever quit in the first place. And the sad thing is, none of them usually even try to quit again for at least five years on the average. And some never quit again at all.

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