We trained ourselves to smoke aided by the addictive power of nicotine.Training meant feeling the signal that our body sent us and then responding by lighting up.We trained ourselves to different usage levels and we respond to different cues to light up. Responses to the craving will vary in intensity duration and time between cravings from person to person but not by much. Our responses to training or to de-training as humans are pretty similar.
Most other smoke cessation programs rely on distraction devices- patches ,gum, high-tec cigarette holders , electronic cigarettes- or a substitute activity.to get past the craving. The problem with those approaches is that they don't allow us to get to the root of the problem with any real understanding.
When I quit and came up with the method, I gave myself permission to clear the decks and not allow distractions of work or play to interfere with what I felt was an important step in life. I prepared myself mentally for a level of discomfort that Dante might have included in Purgatory.I expected, based on past attempts at quitting, tortures of the damned and got the surprise of my life!
I got up that morning, poured a cup of coffee but eliminated the spoonful of sugar.My wife had left for work. I was alone with my anxiety. The first craving of the day came when I was halfway into the cup.I put it down and steeled myself for the worst. I focussed on the discomfort itself. This came as a tightening around my chest, butterflies and an anxious feeling I can only describe as 'edginess.'The combination was uncomfortable and unpleasant and I asked myself "how uncomfortable is this, really?" I tried to locate it on a scale of relative discomfort.
Was it as bad as dental work with a 'local?" As recovery from my Christmas Eve hernia operation.Leg cramps? No. To all the above.
Was it as bad as poison ivy? No. A spider bite? A mosquito bite? Yeah, more than that. And while I was trying to pin down my level of discomfort a funny thing happened. The craving disappeared. Now, if you're focusing your attention elsewhere you're going to miss this. Distraction and displacement activity remove the most powerful tool we have for ending smoking , the craving itself. And this is why the success rates for 'cure' that depend on distraction and substitutions are low.
I hadn't even nailed down the hardship level and the object of my study was gone. I glanced at the clock it was about ten minutes to nine. What the heck! I finished the coffee, poured another cup and began to think about what,had ,or rather ,hadn't happened.
I had some questions.It was short, but how short? When would it return? And I really hadn't pined down the discomfort level.Keep in mind that I had smoked for thirty-five years and was good for twenty-five to thirty cigarettes daily.
One question was answered at about ten after nine. Twenty minutes, give or take after the last one. I now watched the clock to see how long this craving lasted. Would it stay for the day or would it go away? This was my second surprise of the morning; it went after about ninety seconds and I was able to rate the intensity somewhere around the level of a bad head cold although the sensation was different.This was when I grabbed some paper and a pencil and began to chart what was going on. I had promised myself that I'd give myself the all the time I needed to quit smoking so I sat back and let the process unfold.
I noticed that when the craving passed that I felt a strong sense of relief and and some exhilaration.It was apparent that I didn't need to 'quit smoking' for a a year, a month or a week. I just needed to do it every twenty minutes and as a bonus get to experience success every time the craving past.
I rewarded myself with a glass of ice water and took a walk. In the middle of the walk another craving came along and I handled it like the two previous ones. I continued to monitor the Frequency of the cravings, their Intensity and the Time it took for each one to disappear. Frequency. Intensity. Time. fitQuit !
