Monday, June 16, 2008

Are you a quitter???



Quitter!!

Yup, you can call me a quitter. I have managed to block the slightest idea to stop smoking for the last 8 years. I was a smoker when I first met my Bride. Believe me, being the health freak she is, this particular habit was never approved but somehow I still managed to live as a nicotine addict throughout my relationship with her as my girlfriend and fiancée.

Ask any smoker and they will tell you that smoking is bad for them. WE KNOW!!! Everyone knows. We just love living in denial.

“I only smoke a little so it does not harm me too much”

“Second hand smoking is even worse!!! It’s better to get first hand smoking”

“I can still afford it for now so I’ll continue to smoke”

“I’ll quit when the time comes… (yeah! Like when??)”

The best line to shrug off any suggestions to quit is this one. And I have personally used it successfully many a times!!!

“My dear friend… 100% of non-smokers die anyway…”

You will definitely get them mum for at least a single minute while you puff away with a satisfied look.

To tell you the truth, I know (and I can personally vouch it) that to quit smoking is not as easy as it seems to non-smokers. When I wanted to quit, I gave myself 2 options. And I declared this openly before my friends and my bride. (At that time she was my girlfriend). I said that I will quit either when I start working or when I get hitched. I knew I couldn’t do it myself so humbly requested The Big One Up There to lend me a hand and give me some inner strength… I was like thinking “I know You know that I know that this is bad for me… but I love it. I also know that You PROMISED that if I want You to help me, I have to sacrifice from something bad that I really love for Your sake. Now I’d like to put my ciggies as the big sacrifice. I’ll quit but please please please give me strength I to do so…

Then I started working… I was still smoking…

Then I got engaged… I was still smoking… by this time, my Bride became my constant reminder of my open declaration. I knew I had at least one year to quit. So for one whole year I psyched my own self that I wanted to quit. I was so good that after a while, I couldn’t stand the smell of my favourite ciggy brand. I switched to lights… after a while, I couldn’t stand even lights, I switched brand… before I started to enjoy the new brand, I told myself that this bad but tasty habit has got to go. I even lost my appetite to eat and began blaming the poor poor ciggie. So on the night of 16th February 2008, Manchester United won 4 – 0 against Arsenal, (oh that was such sweet victory!!!) I took my last two sticks. Boy did I enjoy those magical bye-bye puffs…

Come 17th February, I was shivering on my chair in my chambers. For two weeks had running nose, sweaty palms, felt sleepy all the time, moody, EVERYTHING JUST WASN’T RIGHT!!! I was constantly chewing my nicotine gum. (ada dua jenis, satu 4mg and the other one is 2 mg. I only took the 2mg). I took three per day. After much research, I understood that the average time you can get the nicotine buzz from a ciggie is around 7-8 seconds roughly. You will only get a slightly lesser buzz from the gum after chewing for about 10-15 minutes… so timing, my dear friends, is the main component in enjoying your nicotine gum without a ciggie.

Nicotine patch is just not for me. If you wear a nicotine patch, u get the necessary nicotine surge round the clock. If your about to quit, u just need the buzz when your craving affects you. No need to allow your body to be acquainted with nicotine continuously. The idea is to get rid of it from your system… tak perlu manjakan diri terlalu sangat…

I made it very clear to everyone I know that I have become a quitter. Some gave me moral support… yes, thank you. Some just laughed and offered me a stick. No acceptance ever took place. Some just didn’t know how to react… I told my support staff after about 3 weeks. To me, that was one of the greatest test ever. If I start smoking again, my staff could be given the opportunity to even think that I am a weak person. Wooooo… scary mental circumstances analysis…

Eventually, (after about 2 months plus) the withdrawal syndrome became controllable and SLIGHTLY bearable. I still get the tingling sensation of a single puff but have never succumbed to such short term pleasure.

It’s weird… to fill the gap that I have when I was smoking with no new habit was strange. Now it’s not that bad anymore. This got me thinking… can a drug addict ever kick the bad habit away? If quitting ciggies can be this bad… no wonder there are so many junkies out there.

So if you’re a smoker and you want to quit, remember, It’s all in the mind… if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter!!!

Blog adjourned!

6 obiter dictum:

Anonymous said...

test test

two_one said...

test test

Twiggy said...

An achievement of yours that I am extremely proud of :)

Andrew said...

masyaallah!!!

gambar apa tuh!!!!

ish, ish, ish.... :p

al-aman said...

salam...i think u should replace this pic with others.. this pic doesnt tell about smoking but about porn.

i know u agree with me..

just an-nasihah bainal muslimin..

em, u can delete this comment after u remove that pic..

however, u r good in blogging.. congrats!

Twiggy said...

eee...sape suruh tengok, mesti tak kawen lagi si al-aman nih, hahahahaha