Tomorrow Sept. 18 will be my 8th consecutive month without smoking! Many of my friends have been asking me how i did it and i really don't know what to tell them because i didn't use any techniques or followed any rules to stop my addiction. In my case, i have done everything just to stop smoking, like chewing gums to divert my cravings, hiding my ash tray so that it would not remind me of smoking and disassociating myself from people who smoke and even thought of hypnotism but it's too complicated for me and besides, where the hell will i find a doctor who knows hypnotism (here in Saudi Arabia) and if ever i found one, how much will it cost me? It was impractical and so unrealistic. But this time is different, I think it's the "Fear Factor".
Aside from the usual things that we hear about those diseases that we get from smoking, like cancer, heart problems etc., i have been a witness to the suffering of a family friend in the Philippines, we affectionately called him Mang Remy, he had Emphysema. It was when i visited him in his hospital room and it all came to me, the fear, there he told me that he was not feeling any pain or anything, but it was his breathing. He was having hard time breathing, he was gasping for air, almost like suffocating. And ever since that day, i was so sure that, what happened to Mang Remy will surely happen to me too and that was enough to scare the funny bones out of me. I have to stop smoking.
The first thing i did was to find out what is the best time for me to stop my addiction and in my case it's easier for me to stop smoking, a day after a heavy drinking and smoking, and so i did. Next i have to incorporate exercises and diet, without these i will surely get fat, I've learned about that in the Internet and Television. At least an hour a day of walking on a tread mill plus some weight lifting, the diet should be less fat and less carbohydrates and more protein.
And now i feel clean, healthy, unlike before, its like I'm gonna die without smoking, but look, I'm alive and free of it. To all smokers out there, there's still time. Take it from me, i was 18 years old when my addiction with cigarette started and now I'm 36 years old, yes it will take time, but if you persevere, you will win the fight. You can do it!
