by Victoria Tiegert

Created on: July 15, 2009

As a smoker for twenty years and now, a non-smoker for a couple of weeks, I can tell you that quitting smoking is not for the weak-willed. It is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and if it weren't for the fact that I am recovering from cancer and the economy isn't recovering from anything at all, I am not altogether sure that I would have had the willpower to even make it this far. The difficulty in quitting smoking is more than just the fact that there is a nicotine addiction. It is a lifestyle addiction.

Smoking, for me, was what I did when I was bored, when I was anxious, when I had my morning coffee and my evening coffee, when I socialized with other smokers, when I did almost anything that was a daily activity. I lit up at every juncture of my day. That is a huge part of what makes quitting smoking so difficult. It is related in my mind to everything else that I do throughout the day. I couldn't even imagine doing most of these things without a cigarette in my hand. Since quitting, I have actually had to change many of my other habits. There is no more morning coffee, or night coffee, no sitting in my computer room, no more visiting with smokers in the backyard, or other things that I once so enjoyed, but always with a smoke.

There is also the issue of what to do with your hands and your mouth. While this may not seem like a big deal if this issue has never come up in your life, it is one for the person who wants to quit smoking cigarettes. You are so used to having something in your hand and in your mouth that it feels very awkward when you don't. I am constantly playing with things, chewing pencils, twirling my hair, and doing absurd things like vaccuuming the inside of my exterior lighting around my house, just to keep busy and distracted. It is enough to make a person feel like they're coming right out of their skin.

Of course, all of the chemicals in the cigarettes have taken their toll during the years that you've been a smoker. The receptors and connectors in the brain itself are damaged by smoking and your pleasure centers are greatly affected in a negative way. That is why the person who is quitting becomes edgy and anxious until these areas of the brain begin to heal and regain their functionality. Quitting smoking is terribly difficult, but I know from seeing others who have done it successfully, that it is worth it after a while. So, on I go, persevering with a strength of will I didn't know that I had. I am determined and I will make it!

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