Happy New Year! Now Don't Go And Do Something Stupid Like...

Tell all your friends your gonna quit smoking this year only to wind up smoking again 3 weeks later.  If you New Years Resolution is to quit smoking this year...

then I made this video just for you.  Not only the habitual smoker, but the habitual quitter...  Happy New Year!!!

How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone Testimonial

When I decided to write and publish a book on How to Stop Smoking, I did it with the intention of empowering people who wanted to stop but couldn't quite get their head around it.  Stopping smoking is a mental game of chess.  Winning that game will not be easy.  It is completely possible and simple as a mater of fact, it's just not easy.  The following testimonial is another success story!  I want you to use this success to know that the only thing holding you back from becoming a non-smoker is you!  You can stop.  If Karen can do it, you can too...

David I wanted you to see what I wrote at Amazon for your book review. I am not a writer.. I would like to think you might approve... here it is...

In 6 years of working on the no smoking game that I have been playing, I have quiet 4 times.... My daughter in law said I need help from a professional, We didn't find one, (only for drugs and alcohol) Then I heard about this book and watched David's video and I was hooked. Couldn't wait to get the book. My parents, husband and I drove to Ga. (book in hand) when I was on week two, You see I can quit, I just can't stay that way, This time was different for me. This was it.. I read the book and it made such sense to me. I would bring the book out and my mother would say "what are you going to write now" or I would read different parts to her and we would discuss it. I can't tell you enough about the book except that I am now on about day 60 and have never made it past 14 days without a puff,even for 6 months. With the help of David's book I have decided that I don't need a cigarette or puff or anything, I am stronger than it is... I thought I loved the love of smoking and David made me realize it was just the brain making me think that. it's not true. No one can love something that is going to kill you... I have read the book three times and get something new from it each time to make me stronger than before. My husband crossed out the word ANYONE and put HUSBAND. it was cute.. I can't even remember what it's like to live a smoke free life, I have had to learn it all new, Like a rebirth if that's what you want to call it. I am 53 years old and have been buying cigarettes since i was 14 years old, my first one at age 12. Nothing to be proud of. But it's a part of my life and I can't take it back or erase it, I can however change my tomorrow and todays. Today I tell myself that I Choose not to SMOKE.. Thank you David for all my years of living you have given to me so I can enjoy my beautiful grand babies.... Karen

How To Stop Cigarette Cravings

How To Stop Cigarette Cravings

In this most recent Hub, David Bradley, author of How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, examines three powerful and effective techniques to handle cigarette craving anytime and anywhere.

Give it a look over and feel free to comment on the Hub itself.  Always appreciate the feedback!

Stop Smoking with Self Discipline

Self Discipline.  How does self discipline apply to not smoking anymore?

Sounds like a stupid question, doesn't it?  Especially since my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, is a recipe for how to successfully stop smoking cold turkey.

Well, I wanted to dissect the word and look at it fully under the mental microscope if you will.



Self: 

• a person or thing referred to with respect to complete individuality: one's own self. 
• a person's nature, character, etc.: his better self. 
• personal interest. 
• Philosophy.  a.  the ego; that which knows, remembers, desires, suffers, etc., as contrasted with that known, remembered, etc.  b.  the uniting principle, as a soul, underlying all subjective experience.

Discipline:

• Origin:
  1175–1225; Middle English  < Anglo-French  < Latin disciplīna  instruction, tuition, equivalent to discipul ( us ) 
  • Root word disciple

OK, so what do we have so far?

When you look at the word "self," it is safe to assume that self is, in addition to you, it is also a reflection of who you are and it is also who you believe you are.

Now the word discipline, comes from the word "disciple."  This is an important thing to recognize here because discipline is so often thought of in terms of punishment.  When you look at a dictionary, you'll see words for discipline like:  behavior, order, regimen, and conduct.  These connotations can all have negative undertones.  Discipline usually falls under the category of "I've done something wrong and need to be punished."  Have you ever heard someone say, "I need more discipline in my life."What are they really saying about themselves?

This is where we've been conditioned to look with a word like that.  But what else does discipline mean?

• activity 
• exercise
• improvement of skill 
• training
• a branch of instruction or learning

So when you think about it like that, what is a disciple?  Who has disciples?  Who comes to mind right away?  Jesus, right?  He had 12 disciples.  Meaning these guys followed his teachings and more importantly lived by his teachings.  The key point though is that they were first and foremost, students.

Other people since have had disciples.  Gandhi, for example had/had disciples.  The Dali Lama has disciples.  Bruce Lee has disciples.

What about you?

You need at least one disciple.  You.  You need to be your own disciple.  You should be a student of you.  That is the essence of your humanity.  Self awareness is such a key component to being a human being.  Look at a dog or a cat for example.  They behave as a dog or cat would but lack the ability to truly see themselves through their own eyes.  Have you aver seen a dog ponder their own existence?  In between licking his butt and chasing a car have you ever seen a dog stop and recognize, "I think, therefor I am."  Not going to happen.

The ability to become a disciple of our self is one of the great mysteries that separates from the rest of the animal kingdom.

"KNOW THYSELF"

It appears the Greeks are still debating who's getting credit for this but if I had to pick one personally, I'd like to give it to Socrates.  If for no other reason then I am a fan of Dan Millman.

So for those looking to stop smoking or break any habit, self-discipline is a vital element in achieving the goals you are laying forth.  Since this is a book on how to stop smoking, let's stay on this example.

Let's also stay on the idea that self discipline is more about being a student of yourself then the idea that you need to "discipline" yourself for smoking.

This is what you'll find through out my book.  An opportunity to know yourself well enough to recognize that in your decision to not smoke you will not have to give up any part of who you are.  Deciding to stop smoking is an evolutionary step in your own path of self awareness, self discovery and self actualization.  All synonyms of self discipline.

KNOW THYSELF.

Another good one, this time from Bill.  Shakespeare, that is.

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE.

Do you see the value in knowing yourself well enough to recognize that the habit (smoking in this case) is merely a reflection or an extension of yourself and not actually you?  Now this doesn't mean you get to get away with saying, "But that's not me."  That is irresponsible.  What I am suggesting here is that in order to stop smoking once and for all, you must recognize that the behavior is a reflection (symptom) of your self image and not your actual self.

Once you have a handle on that concept, you then can truly see yourself.  Then you can see yourself not smoking too.  And then once you have that picture in your mind, of you not smoking, you can now wade into the waters of being a smoker who doesn't smoke.  Taking that one day at a time.  Understand you were you before you started smoking and will still be you after you stop.


Yes, there will be a great debate in your body and mind as they have all been tricked into believing that smoking is a part of who you are.  But with real self discipline, you can press on.  I saw an interesting quote while researching this blog and I find it an appropriate way to end this today...  are you ready?  Here you go:

SUFFER THE PAIN OF DISCIPLINE OR SUFFER THE PAIN OF REGRET.

Don't Quit Smoking and Don't Even Stop Smoking For That Matter...

But buy my book anyway.  How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone What?  Yes.  That's right.  I just went there.  But it's not what you think.  I wrote this book because I know I'm not the only one who has stopped and I know that the ordeal of stopping is not a pleasant experience and I also know that quitting is near impossible.  I wrote this book now because I truly want to help the PNS (potential non-smoker - more on this later so keep reading) to finally kick the habit. In the book you'll find out why I never bothered to quit, I simply stopped. 

You too can stop, but only when you make the commitment to do so.  Commitment is a magical thing.  True commitment is what removes the "I" and the "M" from the word impossible.  It's that one thing that flips a switch in your brain and suddenly you focus on something with laser precision.  Can you think of a moment in your life where your own high level of commitment produced a result?  What about an amazing, incredible result?  What was that like for you?  What was the difference between your level of commitment when you really knocked it out of the park verses the time you just got on base or even struck out?

So here's where I'm going with this, because I know you're wondering.  Just because you purchase my book it does not mean you're going to have to quit smoking.  In fact I will encourage you to not quit but instead learn how to stop.  Big difference.  Stranger yet, I will encourage you to smoke while reading it.

I got to thinking about this after an exchange I had on-line with a potential non-smoker (PNS):

PNS on 4/3:  "I'm so scared of not smoking. WTF is that about??  Don't have a clue how to live without it...23yrs. anyway...clearly i need the book. when I get off the ancient phone and to my computer I will order. THANK YOU!"

This prompted my last blog post and then a few days later I get this...

PNS on 4/6:  "Had to postpone my purchase. Biz is slow, but I WILL be buying it!"

ME:  "How much are you "investing" in cigarettes weekly/daily?  Is biz slow enough to where cigarettes are on the budget chopping block?  Think about how much you'll save once you stop..."

PNS:  "....no.  :(   I got nothing else...  No excuse or even anything to rebut with.  You have a huge point." 

So here's what I asked myself.  Is the idea of not smoking so terrifying that it's actually preventing you, the PNS from actually committing the time and money to hit Amazon or my website and hook up on the book?

A pack of cigarettes in Los Angeles is about 5 bucks.  That's .25 cents a cigarette.  My book is 92 pages of whit and wisdom for $15.89.  That's .17 cents a page.  My book costs less then a cigarette!  My book will also help you increase your time on this planet where as a cigarette is more money and also re-leaves you of quality time spent here on Tera Firma.

But then I say to myself, "Self, it's clearly not about the money.  You've been in sales long enough to know it's almost always never price.  Hell, maybe I'm not charging enough!  Maybe people are wondering how $15.89 spent can reverse how ever many thousands of dollars spent on tobacco!  Is my book too cheap?  Maybe I should raise my price...  hmmmmmmmmmmmmm."

Well, don't worry, I'm not going to raise my price just yet...  but what I will do is give you, the PNS, full permission to buy and read my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone and not have to quit or even stop smoking.

Sooner or later you're going to stop.  I hear it all the time.  "I'll quit when I'm ready."  Granted for some, by the time they're ready it's too late, but for many, being ready to quit/stop is something that arrives in due time.  Reading this book will plant a few seeds that will make stopping (in due time) not only easier, but it will solidify the commitment I mentioned earlier.  If you're waiting for the switch to flip, then having read this book prior to the flip will only help keep the switch flipped!  Savvy?

Or perhaps reading the book will flip the switch.  If that happens then the fear is gone.  Commitment, true commitment will over power fear any day of the week. In addition success will become your only option.

Let me know what you think!

Autographed Copy of How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone

http://www.stopdontquit.com/ The Book is "How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone" by David R Bradley. A signed copy is available, here's to get one! David's book is a no nonsense approach to kicking the habit. In the book, David will get you the right frame of mind, empower you, energize you and entertain you all the way to finally having the courage to stop smoking once and for all. Get your copy today!

Smoke Your Mind and Napoleon Hill Wisdom

In my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, I talk about one of the motivating factors for me to stop smoking. It came when I realized I was out of control. There comes a time after about 6 and half hours or so without a cigarette when you realize that if you don't have a cigarette and like right now, someone very well might get hurt. Granted I am slightly exaggerating but the nic-fit is real.

It soon began to bother me to be under Big-Tobacco's spell so powerfully. I got started smoking as a way to separate myself from others, to flaunt and solidify my identity. Or at least so I thought. The reality was in no time instead of being the individual I wanted to be I was just like everyone else... hooked. Smoking lost it's romance for me and it was time to kick the habit.

I thought of this moment in my life in late 2001 when I realized smoking wasn't all it's cracked up to be... or rather, it's more like crack than you think. I thought of this moment when I saw this quote from Napoleon Hill

"Control your own mind, and you may never be controlled by the mind of another.

The mind is the most powerful weapon known to man. It simply cannot be controlled or contained by an outside force, however formidable that force may at first appear. Throughout history, tyrants have tried to control those who opposed them, but eventually these rulers discovered the power of the imagination was far greater than the threat of the sword. As Victor Hugo said, "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."

Big Tobacco, like any good drug dealer has control of your mind and directs your thoughts towards one more cigarette. It is with this mind, such a powerful weapon indeed, that you will conquer your addiction to nicotine and cigarettes.

Your mind is the best tool for meeting the challenge to stop smoking. You can use a patch, chew the gum, tinker with water vapor cigarettes, and any other nicotine delivery device you can think of, but sooner or later it will boil down to you making a conscious decision with your mind to not light up.


I used my mind to stop smoking and you can to.  In fact, you will have to.  My mission now it to get my book into the hands of 5000 smokers who want to be non smokers.  


So if you found this blog and you're still smoking, or you think you've quit but feel yourself wavering and loosing control, consider this, I, like you, struggled through the process and found a way to not only stop, but stay stopped.  Perhaps destiny or God brought you here and perhaps you should give this book a read.  I will leave it up to you of course, but deciding to finally stop once and for all could very well be the best decision you've ever made...  next to deciding to get a copy of my book!

Smoked Salmon Another Reason to Stop Smoking

Smoked Salmon Another Reason to Stop Smoking

Another Hub from above that I've written to inspire and encourage smokers to knock off the smoking habit once and for all.  I found a way and you can too!  Take a look at the video to promote the Hub too...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vflXTR-EzbQ

Then let me know what you think!

Smoking Legends Lost Too Soon Part One: Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart.  As an teenager reaching towards manhood, I discovered Bogie.  As a child I remember hearing of him, seeing Bugs Bunny imitate him and Elmer Fudd playing his waiter but it wasn't until I developed this blooming curiosity for all things 1920's to 1940's that the real fascination fired up.

In my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, I touch on the impact Bogie had on me and my life and most importantly, my decision to be a smoker.  It worked out quite well.  Bogie was the man, I wanted to be the man, the man smokes, therefor, so should I...  right?

Never mind the fact that "The Man" died of esophageal cancer just 20 days after he turned 57 years young.  The cancer had withered my idol down to 80 pounds.  Yes, 80 pounds.

The picture at the top is of Bogie at a young and youthful age.  Born on December 25, 1899, Humphrey DeForest Bogart rose to stardom and then to legend.  Now, immortal, due to films like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, The African Queen, Key Largo and many more, Humphrey Bogart became an icon to millions.  Including myself.

Bogie was hard.  Strong.  Witty.  Me?  I was...  well maybe witty.  On a good day.  I remember studying how he smoked.  How he held the cigarette, how he took a drag, how he lit it, every little nuance.  I loved how he stood, the way he would glare. 

Then there the cars, the clothes, the nightlife.  I had definitely found a connection and an affinity for all things 1920's to 1950's.  There in those eras existed a certain glamor that is long gone.  A romance the is somehow missing from modern life.  My love affair with Americana blossomed thanks to Humphrey Bogart.

When I decided to stop I looked at how Bogart died.  It was one of those harsh realities that was waiting in the wings.  His esophagus was removed, a few lymph nodes, and even a rib.  But it was too late.  The cancer had spread.  For Bogart, it was a matter of "if" anymore, it was a matter of "when." 

Having witnessed first hand the withering affects of cancer first hand, my mother passed away in 1998 from cancer, and my aunt passed later the same year, I quickly put two and two together.  Bogart's smoking and drinking lead to throat cancer and he had withered to 80 pounds of his former self before he died.

The reality of death is one of those things that is very hard to look at, but when you do, it can also be quite liberating.  We're all going to die sooner or later.  Me?  I choose to do it as later as possible and I'm not all that interested in withering down to 80 pounds of my former self nor do I want to die in intense pain. 

The tragedy of Bogart's death is that it hasn't been used to the fullest to educate people...  actually, no.  Never mind.  Sometimes I forget that tobacco, cigarettes and nicotine are as powerfully addicting as heroin and most addicts need to find their own way home or die trying. 

Bogart has inspired me in life and in death and continues to teach me from beyond the grave what it means to be a man.  His strengths far outweighed his weakness.  He is a teacher.  When you look at his body of work, what he stood for, how he lived and how he died, you are left, as always with Bogie, wanting more.  That is the real tragedy.  Gone too soon.  I know for me, that his tragic untimely death will not be in vein as I have stopped smoking and will never again pick up the habit. 

And now, I find it vital to spread the word to all that it's time you too kicked the habit...  schweet hart.

Take possession of your own mind...

"...and you may soon make life pay off on your terms.

Your mind is unquestionably your most valuable possession. You may lose every material thing you own, but knowledge can never be taken from you. With it, you can earn a new fortune, build a new home, and buy anything you truly desire. No one else can control your thoughts; even the cruelest tyrant cannot force you to think about something you refuse to accept. When you make a deliberate decision to take control of your mind and feed it positive, constructive thoughts, you are on your way to taking control of your life. The thoughts you allow to dominate your mind will determine what you will get from life. "

You might even be able to stop smoking!  Once again, applicable wisdom in my in-box from the Napoleon Hill Foundation...

Another Gem From Napoleon Hill

Your Job Will Never Be Any Bigger 

Than Your Imagination Makes It
 
Daniel Burnham, the turn-of-the-century architect and civic planner whose plan for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair had an enormous influence on contemporary civic design, was quoted as saying, "Make no little plans." He knew that to achieve great things we must have grand ideas. If you can imagine it, you can create it. And if you can create in your imagination the job that you would like to have, it is possible to create it in the real world.

OK people, what does this have to do with not sucking on coffin nails?

How to Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone Arrives at The White House

Label/Receipt Number: 0310 1230 0001 5659 8314
Expected Delivery Date: February 4, 2011
Class: Priority Mail^®
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation^™
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 4:14 am on February 11, 2011 in WASHINGTON, DC 20500

Obama and Boehner ALMOST get copies of my book...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrYv-i6IsnQ

Click here for the update...  more to come.

An open letter to all

BELOW IS AN EMAIL I SENT.  NOW, HERE ON THE BLOG, I ASK YOU TO DO WITH IT AS YOU SEE FIT.

Dear Friends and Family,

I trust most of you know, I have written my first book.  How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone.  In this book are the tools, tricks, actions, and behaviors that were vital in helping me kick the habit in 2002.  It chronicles my story and experience as a smoker becoming a non-smoker.  How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, then shows how anyone can use the same tools and techniques I used to stop smoking to successfully stop themselves.

Why are you receiving this email?

In a nutshell, I need your help.

As I started 2011, I set a goal for myself to sell 5000 copies of this book by or before 12/31/11.  I picked that number because I read somewhere that most books that get published never sell more than 5000 copies.  "Well, not me" I thought!  "I'll sell 5000 in a year!"  Puffed up chest and all!

As time went on, I started blogging more and more about not smoking.  I continued doing more and more research into smoking, addiction, getting "clean" and seeing the consequences of smoking and smoking addiction.  Suddenly my goal began to change.  Actually, it began to evolve.  I started this book with the intention to share my story, have a few laughs and hopefully make some money.

Things have changed for me.

I still want to share my story and I definitely want to have a few laughs.  But putting all of that aside for a second, what I really want to do is to empower smokers.  5000 to be exact.  5000 this year to be more specific.  I want to empower smokes to stop smoking.  Cigarettes are a cruel bitter sweet dysfunctional relationship that will eventually lead to checking out of this life way sooner than necessary.   Cigarettes in my opinion are a passive aggressive form of suicide and if that's too "heavy" for you than at least acknowledge that if you're smoking daily, you're self medicating for something.

I genuinely want to help others stop.  Smokers need healing, tough love, and motivation.  It's time to kick the habit.  It's time to love yourself a little more than you did yesterday and it's time to pass this email forward.

That's what I need your help with.  You can breathe easy, there will be NO pass this on or else curse!

Do you know a smoker?  Do you know someone who knows a smoker?  Is there a loved one in your life that needs this book? 

I'm looking to get 5000 people this year to make a small investment in the quality of the rest of their lives.  How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, is not preachy.  There will be a few in your face moments, but keep in mind, I bill myself as a smoker who doesn't smoke.  If you're a smoker, know that I speak your language and this book is for you.  Know that you don't have to give up any part of yourself or your identity to stop smoking. 

My father wrote something interesting in the forward of the book that says we all "smoke" something.  So for those of you non-smokers with a habit that needs kicking, this book may come in handy as well...

So, if you're receiving this email, know that all I'm asking you to do is forward this on to the people you know who may benefit from reading this book.  I think it goes without saying you're welcome to get a copy for yourself, but what's most important to me right now is to find a way to get my book between the fingers of 5000 smokers this year.   Then, I want those 5000 smokers to accept my challenge to "stop, but don't quit."

Thank you for taking the time to read this and a double thank you in advance for deciding to help me help others...

Sincerely,

David R. Bradley 
THE WEBSITE:  http://www.stopdontquit.com/

What Kind of Smoker Are You: The Reply

 As you know this blog is the spin off/continuation of my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone.  The other day, I get an email with an opening paragraph that said this:

Hey... so I wrote a reply to your article but apparently it's too long LOL... The system won't post it because I have too many characters. I figured instead of rewriting it or scratching it altogether I'd just send it to you direct, do with it what you will.  :-)

The article/blog was called What Kind of Smoker Are You?  In it is an examination of smoker types.  I sent this one out to a few friends who I know to be smokers and non-smokers, looking for additional insight.  One reply that followed was worthy of a blog of it's own...  and apparently too long to be just a "comment."  So without further to-do, allow me to present the "comment" in it's entirety.



In the spirit of this article I decided to make a list of typical smoking times/places to see if I could find my own patterns.

-Doing homework
-Reading
-After a movie
-After a TV show
-With coffee
-With alcohol
-While on the phone
-During lunch- in fact, my lunch break became an hour long smoke break where I could usually get between 3-4 of them in and I’d just run through Del Taco on my way home in the evening instead of actually eating lunch on my break.
-The drive into work
-The drive home from work
-Watching the sunset/rise
-While at the beach- I was deeply offended by the no smoking laws on the beach that were enforced recently…
-If I was sad, if I was angry, if I was happy…

I was never afraid to quit but the honest truth of it is I like to smoke. I like the feeling of it, the heat, the fire of it, the draw and the weight deep in the hidden corners of my lungs being filled with a long drawn breath, the resistance of it and the essential quiet that comes with it- taking that moment to breathe deeply, exhale deeply… there’s nothing like it.

I didn't really have a pattern and I don't think I'm really a 'type'. I found all sorts of excuses in positive situations and negative. Mostly negative, though because smoking veiled all the bad things, glorified them in a fog, turned horrible situations into romantic ones. A break up- once a bitter angry moment suddenly becomes a scene right out of a movie. The death of a loved one- horrible and shocking, becomes a quiet moment of reflection where once again, you can cut and paste it directly into any number of films. Smoking becomes an extension of the personality, it becomes a gesture, a facial expression, it’s own words and sentences. Sometimes smokers don’t even need to speak, it’s all in the way you hold it, the way you take the drag, the way you exhale is a conversation and only those in your private world can understand you.

As far as the list goes, I was a recreational smoker, an emotional smoker, a coffee and cigarettes diet smoker, a situational smoker and well, the alcoholic smoker was omnipresent throughout all those others. I was also a spiritual smoker- after tarot readings, using it instead of food to “come down” afterward, hell I have even been known to use the smoke from my clove instead of sage to cleanse a space for readings from time to time. 

Because I only smoked cloves, I felt sort of… above the influence. I didn’t smoke “regular” cigarettes so I felt that I was immune to the issues of smokers. I didn’t think I was addicted. Yeah, I know how that sounds. I really didn’t. I thought, I smoke because I like to, not because I have to. I thought that until I decided to “quit.” Only then did I learn how much of a smoker I actually was.

I am a smoker. About 10 years before I started smoking, someone once told me I was destined to smoke because I was a pyro. So yeah, I had a thing for the flame, candles, incense, and firelight on an open hearth, a camp fire with burning coals shining like priceless jewels in some lost Arabian treasure. The idea that something so gentle and brilliant could also in the same instant be painfully destructive and deadly was fascinating to me. So yeah, I love the romanticism of firelight in any form, the historical, time travelling, deliciously romantic feeling of it in any form. It only made sense to want to consume it, to become it and smoking is as close as anyone can get to fire without it burning.
Such a romantic, aren’t I? Except it does burn. That was sort of what I liked about it. When I was depressed, the burn of the smoke in my body felt like a cleansing veil, consuming the pain, consuming me… then you add Mr Daniels to that little party and its self-destruction on cloud nine, all the time, baby.

A clove and a mocha, sunset and a book and it’s a picture worthy of recording. Or with a glass of red wine, with a Jack and coke or just the Jack… there are a thousand ways to pair it I could write a book on ways to make your cigarette more tasty! LOL… 

The point is, I didn’t quit. 

I came to terms with the fact that I am a smoker. Through a long history of falling for smokers and drinkers, those damn romantic boys with the silver tongues, scotch in one hand and a smoke in the other… heh… yeah, I’m always gonna be a smoker and a special place in my heart will always exist for the persona that just as you said, lives and glorifies the romanticism of the act. 

I stopped smoking because I wanted kids. I wanted them to be healthy and live in a home that was healthy. I won’t hide the fact that I used to smoke to them, in fact I’m sure I’ll be blatantly honest with them about it in hopes that they can learn from it. I can’t call it a mistake, but I can call it a lesson.
It’s been almost a year now- January 8th, in fact… And yeah, there are moments I want it, oooh man do I want it… I still have two sealed cartons of smuggled in cloves (after they were banned from the US I ordered them online) in my freezer. Will I ever take them out? Heh, I have no idea.

I completely agree with the chemical aspect, the psychology is hands down irrefutable. I read an article during my studies in psychology about children with ADHD growing up to become smokers and how this correlation is highly understated. Nicotine calms the brain, even as it stimulates it. We are self medicating even when we don’t realize it. The basic idea was backed up in my bio-psych class where it stated the part of the brain affected by nicotine is the same part that is stimulated while with loved ones. If we’re depressed or otherwise psychologically damaged, we are replacing real love with cigarettes. It’s a pretty easy concept but you’d be surprised how many people think I’m nuts when I tell them… 

Anyway, a lot of truth exists in the concept of these many types of smoker, but ultimately if we don’t deal with our demons, we will never allow ourselves to move away from smoking. Also, on the subject of demons… people try to give the cigarette a personality. It’s a demon, pressing on our will power. It’s got a grip on us. No, silly.. you have a grip on your will power and you’re not ready to make the move. When we can admit that, we’re one step closer to putting them down.

Ok that’s all I have to say. LOL… sorry for the rant and thanks for the article!

And thank you for the reply!  If you enjoyed this comment/rant and would like more, please check out Ishtar's Web.  And if you too have a comment that is too long for posting, please email it to me at thepuravidacompany@gmail.com and I will see to it that your thoughts are made known.  As always, this blog is also a forum for you the reader and smoker to clear the air (so to speak) and over come addictions, fight compulsion, and eliminate the bad habits that keep us from our dreams and goals.

Is Smoking a Habit or an Addiction?

Cut that out!

Is smoking cigarettes just a habit or is it truly an addiction?  When you want to stop smoking, why is it so often referred to as "kicking the habit?"  People tell you, "you gotta kick the habit!"  When you google "kick the habit" the results are all about smoking.

The Cliff Clavin in me is always curious about where phrases like this come from!  Answers.com says that the phrase Kick The Habit originated in the late 19th Century as a reference to withdrawals from opiate addiction.  Back in the day you could get Opium, think predecessor to Heroin, and Laudanum, (think liquid opium) legally and easily from the local Chinatown or corner drugstore.  Ah, the good ol' 1800's!  So, for those of you not privy to withdrawal from Opium and Laudanum, myself included, thank God, when you're in the throws of withdrawal, your nervous system is all whacked out and you may have involuntary spasms and seizures which could result in you kicking.  Now the word habit is something else entirely.  Originally habit was used to refer to appearance or dress.  Like a nun, she wears a habit.  Now somewhere in the 1880's the word evolved from something you have "on" in the physical world to something emotionally driven.  Like sipping laudanum or drinking whiskey.  Victorian etiquette never likes to call a spade a spade.  Plus, "addiction" as we know it today really wasn't used until the early 1900's so when you were addicted to something, people would say you have the "habit."  Interesting, no?  Especially when many people believe it is easier to get off the opiates than then cigarettes.

So on to the inspiration behind this blog.  From the Napoleon Hill Thought for the day:  

"Human faults are like garden weeds. They grow without cultivation and soon take over the place if they are not thinned out."

"Habits are formed so slowly that most of us don't realize what is happening until the habits are too strongly entrenched to be broken. Seldom can one pattern of behavior be eliminated without replacing it with another. It has been said that nature abhors a vacuum and will always find something to fill a void. The best way to thin out the "weeds," or faults in your character, is to identify those traits with which you are dissatisfied and replace them with their positive counterparts. If you have a tendency to lose your temper, for example, find a replacement for your anger. Neutralize it with a positive expression or affirmation, such as, "No one can make me angry unless I let them. I will not let anyone else control my emotions." 

What's your habit?

This goes for puffing on small cylindrical objects as well.  While starting out as an occasional activity, smoking very often leads to a habitual behavior and before you know a physical addiction begins to develop.  No, duh!  Right?  So enough of the obvious and on to the more subtle, finer points...

In How to Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, I make a very specific distinction between quitting and stopping.  One is comprehensible to the addict and the other is not.  So with that in mind, what do you think is easier to deal with?  A habit or an addiction?  Psychologically, I'm going to go with habit.  What do you need to do to break a habit?  Well habits have a 30-40 day incubation time.  They also have a trigger.  Something that sets them off.  More often then not, the trigger lies deep in the subconscious.  Your luxury as a human being is the ability to recognize when the trigger is acting up by ways of a craving.  Breaking the habit means riding out the craving.  It does not mean you have to go to therapy to sort out why you've got this bad habit.  Obviously, knowing your history will help in the process and add motivation, but the simple action of decision is the most powerful tool in your arsenal to not smoke.  When you go to the addiction side, it reverts back to a physical need for something.  Not a want.  Wants you can manage.  Needs must be met.  Semantics?  Yes, but words are incredibly powerful.  Try this...  don't think of a pink elephant.  See?  Look what I made you do!  

Let me sum this up by quoting Wayne Dyer.  "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change."  

So now you want to stop smoking.  Are you addicted or do you just have a bad habit.  If you try to quit, you will soon find that you're addicted.  If you just stop, you will find yourself shedding a very bad habit.

For more on semantics, humor and direction, pick up a copy of How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone.  Available now on Amazon.com or if you'd like to take a look at the Forward and Chapter 1: Stop Trying to Quit, you can do so over on www.stopdontquit.com.

Have a question or comment?  Leave it below!  As always this is your blog too, I welcome the discourse.

Anxiety Makes Quitting Smoking Harder

I recently stumbled upon this article:

http://fyiliving.com/depression/anxiety-makes-quitting-smoking-harder/

Sometimes, the blog finds you...

This article covers a study by the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention where 1500 smokers were analyzed.

You can read the study here:  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03173.x/abstract

What grabbed me most was this, "To understand the relations among anxiety disorders and tobacco dependence, withdrawal symptoms, response to smoking cessation pharmacotherapy and ability to quit smoking."

Pharmacothera...  what?

Pharmacotherapy:  the treatment of disease through the administration of drugs.

OH!  That!  When you see big words like that, feel free to get a little anxious.  I know I always do.  In fact, I'm thinking about reaching for a smoke right now I'm so anxious!

But I digress, really.  Here's the deal, some folks went out to answer the question, "If you suffer from anxiety AND smoke cigarettes, will it be harder to quit?"

Their findings:  "Anxiety diagnoses were common among treatment-seeking smokers and were related to increased motivation to smoke, elevated withdrawal, lack of response to pharmacotherapy and impaired ability to quit smoking. These findings could guide treatment assignment algorithms and treatment development for smokers with anxiety diagnoses."

This leaves me with one major question:  Who in the #%&* funded this?  Are you serious?  Is this some kind of joke?  Can you say no brainer?  I can.  If I was 11 years old the phrase "no-duh" would be ringing out load and proud!

So, just so we're clear here, not only is smoking getting put into the disease category instead of the disease CAUSING category, it is now official that if you've been anxious for a while and you smoke, then quitting is going to be a bitch.

Dude, quitting is already a bitch!  As if I wasn't anxious enough, now you're telling me withdrawals will be elevated, no motivation, and what's all this pharmaco-whatever talk? 

Look, I won't hide it, I've suffered from anxiety my whole life.  Why do you think I started smoking?  At least the real reason.  The subtext of it all...  suddenly that nicotine relaxed me.  Evened out my brain chemistry or at least covered up the feelings.  Why do people become alcoholics?  Drug Addicts?  Self-Medication is a prime factor.  Even if the soon to be addict isn't aware of it.  It's quite simple really.  The knots and butterflies, the nausea, the tight chest and diaphragm, the sensation that I might crap myself, all that stuff suddenly goes away when I have a cigarette and I can think clearer.  These thoughts process faster than a light going on so it never has time to fully register, but there it is.  Smoke this, feel better.  Self medication.
 

The article wraps up with this amazing insight:  "The results of this study demonstrate that habitual smoking may be caused by more factors than nicotine addiction."

Speaking of being 11 years old again and excuse the language, but a "no shit Sherlock!" is the only appropriate comment here.

Look folks, especially the ones still making the decision to continue smoking, smoking is a decision you make every time you light up.  In my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, I contend that for most people, especially if you, like me, suffer from anxiety disorder, it is impossible to quit.  So don't bother trying.  It is however, VERY possible to stop smoking.

After all that is the name of this blog...  stop, don't quit.  For more on that, you'll have to read the book.  Yes, I am in this for the money!  Not really, I'm kidding...  sort of.  What I am in it for, more than anything,  is to help people make the decision to stop smoking and to give themselves the permission they need to love themselves just enough to finally knock this passive aggressive from of suicide off once and for all.


I find it disturbing that someone needed "scientific evidence" to establish a "treatment algorithm" for smokers with anxiety disorder.  I don't think a word like that should be anywhere near a discussion about treatment for individuals.  It's too sterile for me.  Then again, I'm not a scientist.  I'm too left brain for any of that.


Anyway, there's my 2 cents on that.  This blog was intended to seriously analyze the study and the article but as I kept reading the article and the study I found it near impossible to take it seriously and while smoking cessation is serious and should not be taken lightly, this article to me, gives too much power to nicotine and cigarettes and diminishes the human spirit and human potential to overcome a condition.  Especially a condition (nicotine addiction) one imposed on them self.

TODAY'S EXCELLENT FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

"Do not wish to be anything but what you are." 

~St. Francis de Sales.     

 

This is very powerful for those of you still on the fence about whether or not you are going to stop smoking or for that matter break any habit.  Who are you?  How well do you know your self?

 

Give it some thought...  let me know what you think!

FDA to require graphic warnings on cigarette packages, ads

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-sci-1111-cigarette-packages-20101111,0,5986780.story   

Clearly, I gotta chime in here...  I've tried getting through the above article like five times.  The first time was right when it came out last week and since then I've looked at it and then had to look away out of frustration.  I finally was able to sift through half of it and then finished it this morning.

I'm going to commit to a general point of view here that as a non-smoking advocate may seem contradictory but honestly, I just don't get it.

Seriously, it's 2010.  If you legitimately do not know that smoking is bad for you in this day and age, I'm sorry, but you deserve whatever comes your way.  How can you not know smoking is bad for you?

Maybe because the people who make the decision to smoke are fully aware of the dangers, consequesces and the risk and for whatever reason, be it addiction, self-loathing, or a little bit of both, decide to do it anyway...

This article goes on to claim that daily 4000 young people try smoking and 1000 of them continue to smoke.  Here's the exact quote, "Every day, 4,000 young people try cigarettes for the first time and 1,000 continue to smoke."

One key word is left out of that equation.  Decide.  Smoking is a decision.   According to the article that means 365,000 "young people" take on the habit of smoking.  According to the CDC, smoking can be related to 1 in 5 deaths annually.  393,600 full time smokers die each year. Tobacco is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States.  However, when you do the math there's 28,600 more people dying from it than starting it.  Darwinism will eventually solve this problem.  Cruel?  Maybe.  True?  Yes.

So yes, smoking is a bad thing.  But...  C'mon people.  Don't you already know this?  If you're still puffing away at this point, is a picture of a diseased lung or some cat smoking through his trachea really going to change your mind?  I say no.  I say the only person, place or thing that is going to change the mind of the smoker is the mind of the smoker.

Many an addict will not stop shooting smack simply because he/she see's the effects of the drug on someone else.  An addict is simply that, an addict and they are the only one who can actually stop.  Notice I don't say quit.  Quitting is an impossible act for the addict if you ask me.

The American Heart and Lung Association state that "Pharmacological and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine."

So first off, if tobacco is that strong, why is it even legal?  Secondly, this mean that these 365,000 new smokers aren't just smokers, but addicts with a physical addiction as strong as junk and blow.  

So....  what's the plan?  As a government institution in the United States of America, let's tell an independent company how to package their product in a way that could drastically reduce sales and consequently close their business.  OK, so as Americans we can look the other way (for now) because smoking is bad.  But what happens when this logic gets plugged into video games, music, food?  Let's not set a precedent here.  Not to sound too paranoid (I'll go through an X-Ray at the airport and as long as they're gentle, I'm OK getting my junk brushed for the common good) but keep in mind, there are some civil liberties involved.  

Well so perhaps potential non addicts will get scared off so that's a good thing but what are we doing to address the root causes and issues of smoking addiction.  You can't communicate rationally with an addict.  They're addicted!  There's a chemical imbalance in their brain that is so strong they actually decide to over look the facts and do it anyway.


I know I did.  From 1991 to 2002 I looked the other way and enjoyed every single puff.  Why did I smoke?  Well for that you can read the book.  Same on how I stopped.  Excuse the shameless plug, but the bottom line here is that smoking is a choice.  Every time someone lights up it's a decision.  So how do we communicate to addicts?  

Parent's who smoke?  I say pass a law that puts smoking as a parent in the same category as abuse or neglect.  Sorry but if you smoke and have kids and then smoke in front of your kids, you're an asshole.  How can you do that?  I know how...  addiction!  Addiction is not logical and causes irrational behavior like putting known carcinogens in the direct path of your own flesh and blood!  What the *%$# is a picture of a black and brown lung sitting on the Camel's hump going to do to make that person quit?

Logic will not do the trick.  If you read my book you'll notice that I don't throw a bunch of facts and figures at the potential non-addict.  I show them how I did it and how they can too.  You decided to start smoking, now decide to stop smoking.  Here's How.  That's it.  Peanut Gallery's open...

Stop Smoking with Oysters

Stop Smoking with Oysters

This is a Hub I wrote that goes with my book, How to Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone .  In it I'm going to take a look at handling the withdrawal phases and I'll also examine the value of growing pains.

 I found a CD set on Mantra's that I mention in the Hub and in this CD on Mantra's lies some very powerful and simple wisdom that became the chief inspiration and motivation for this Hub.

Take a look at it and let me know what you think...

Stop Smoking with Oysters