[this is actually a repost from june 2010]
the easy way? crap. or at
least, for myself and most of the people i know: crap. we don't care
about the fear, and we most certainly don't care about the health
issues. how do i know this? because we wouldn't have started otherwise.
here we go with the basics: nicotine increases serotonin secretion, so when you're a smoker who's not smoking, you're less happy. or not happy at all.
what
tends to happen is that a smoker will witness something that he would
have enjoyed otherwise, and to compensate has a cigarette.
this
way, the cigarettes become event based. first cup of coffee? cigarette.
finishing a great meal? cigarette. beautiful sunset? cigarette. sex?
cigarette. even those events that produce serotonin without the use of
nicotine are improved by it, so experiencing the same without feels
less... satisfying.
additionally, we don't actually enjoy smoking. what we enjoy is the immediate rush.
to
make matters worse, the more-than-casual smoker has developed something
really insidious: the internal loop that counts down to the next
cigarette. whatever you're doing, you're simultaneously thinking of the
next smoke break. the good news is that you take breaks - something
non-smokers need a better excuse to do, and that's healthy both mentally
and physically. the bad news is that when you do eventually manage to
stop smoking (an aggravating procedure that only takes about two weeks*)
you have a loop that keeps counting down to... nothing.
you
can't stop that countdown, so you've got to re-purpose it. i can't tell
you how to do that: every person has his own way. sports, art, whatever -
just don't turn to food as an answer. exercise will give you the buzz;
i'm guessing almost anything interesting / challenging will do.
so that's all the rationale for "the fisher king method":
step 1.
pay attention to how little your body appreciates each and every
cigarette. no, that's not the taste of meat and potatoes. your lungs do
not appreciate the intrusion.
step 2. make sure that you have a support system in place for when you actually quit. make a mantra of "i'm irritated because i'm quitting", because you'll find yourself horrifically aware of everyone
else's faults for the two weeks - and the problem is with you. go to the gym, or set up a punching bag in your living room.
step 3. take up a sport - the more extreme the better - or art, or hobby, and go for walks in pretty places. you know - live.
and assign your inner loop to whatever you've chosen. hell, if you
assign your loop to reading books, you'll suddenly realize that you have
tons of time for the classics; the same goes for movies. i hesitate to
add cooking to the list, because that could turn into a proxy for replacing smoking with eating.
if any of those steps are a real problem, then just carry on smoking. there's no point in going through life miserable.
*
it takes about that much time for your system to realize that there's
no external stimulus coming, and that it'll have to take back control of
the serotonin release functions.
a story about a man making his dreams come true... but with all the interesting bits left out.
News
My campaign to produce Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Graphic Novel Adaptation needs your help! Please sign up at https://www.patreon.com/fisherking for access to exclusive content and the opportunity to be a part of the magic!
I'm also producing a podcast discussing the sonnets, available on
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For those who prefer reading to listening, the first 25 sonnets have been compiled into a book that is available now on Amazon and the Google Play store.
I'm also producing a podcast discussing the sonnets, available on
industrial curiosity, itunes, spotify, stitcher, tunein and youtube!
For those who prefer reading to listening, the first 25 sonnets have been compiled into a book that is available now on Amazon and the Google Play store.
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