Self Help

In order to stay on your course of becoming a nonsmoker, you’ll have to keep vigilant and guard against the temptations that could cause you to slip up. If only temptations would go away, now that you’ve stopped smoking! Unfortunately, they don’t. Not for a while. In the first few months, when you see or taste a cup of coffee or make a telephone call, you may be just as likely to get an urge for a cigarette as you did when you were a smoker.

By the time you’ve been off cigarettes over two weeks, the frequency of your urges is going way down. But some urges can still be real killers. Here’s one consolation: The worst is over! The nicotine is gone from your system, most physical withdrawal symptoms are sharply reduced, and the frequency of those urges and cravings is going down.

That means the cravings you’re experiencing are coming from your mind, not from your body. Try not to be discouraged or frustrated by this. Habits you’ve had for years are not some- thing that will disappear overnight. The important thing is to recognize where the urges are coming from and to use that knowledge to fight the craving.

As the months go by, you’ll start to notice that even your mental cravings are becoming more like thoughts than strong drives. Ex-smokers who have been off cigarettes for a long time say they still have thoughts about cigarettes, but not pressing urges. It’s a bit like what happens when you hear old hit songs. The music evokes thoughts of your high school days, and the friends you knew then - but you don’t feel any urge to actually go back to cramming for exams and agonizing over acne.

Of course, some ex-smokers who want to boost their own egos often brag that they’re still fighting urges to smoke every day. But they’re usually just trying to make themselves appear strong, while frightening others from even attempting to quit.

So how can you deal with these temptations, now that smoking is out of the question? By creative alternatives and evaluating your situation. Now is a good time to reevaluate your temptations and your plans for coping with them. As your physical cravings have decreased, you’ve probably noticed that the temptations that used to affect you may no longer be the ones that bother you now.

Cigarettes and cigarette packages are still likely to be your strongest temptations. You got rid of all your cigarettes when you quit smoking. But now is the time to do a double check of all the places where you used to keep them. The obvious places, such as cigarette boxes. And the not so obvious places, such as the side pocket of a suitcase. It’s important to make sure you really got rid of every last one, because one of the easiest ways to fall off the wagon - especially when you are feeling confident that you have mastered your desire for cigarettes - is to come across a couple of leftover cigarettes.