How I Stopped Chain Smoking: One Chain Stitch At A Time!

I had open heart surgery at the age of 11...Of course I was told to never smoke...but I took that as a dare I guess, and when all my friends began smoking, of course I had to do it too.

As a child I loved the movie 'Pollyanna.'  I loved The Happy Game she played in that movie.  Everyone could benefit greatly from watching that movie.  There is nothing that cannot be changed to something good-it may be hard, but that is what makes it a game.

When I quit  smoking , I did not WANT to quit.  I LIKED to smoke, it tasted good and it made me feel good.  I just HAD to quit because I knew it was the right thing to do- and cuz I'm a cheapass and they kept raising the prices. 

I told myself:  NEVER again will I EVER have even "just a drag."  That always got me into trouble when I'd quit in the past...I also told myself that I had to get EXCITED about quitting.

So, every time I felt the urge for a smoke, I would FORCE myself to smile, and tell myself, "This is so AWESOME!  This is good for you!  You are doing a GREAT JOB!"  This was a VERY forced smile, and at the time, it was hard to do-to say those words in my head and to make myself smile.  I remember my dad telling me that I looked like the joker when I'd do my random "I am quitting smoking  smile," because it really was a forced smile haha!

Eventually that forced scary lady smile turned into a real smile.  I smile now because I am healthy, not tied to cigarettes (my whole life doesn't consist of "how am I going to sneak out and puff away?"), and I have extra money.

I also turned to tea.  I was also scared to quit because I didn't want to gain a lot of weight-and everyone says that happens when you quit.  So, I bought different kinds of tea (mainly because it isn't bad for you):  green tea, raspberry tea, blueberry tea (do I sound like Bubba?  Shrimp Gumbo, Fried Shrimp, Shrimp Salad bahahaha!).  I enjoyed my "break time" that the cigarettes allowed me.  I would sneak outside with my tea-so I didn't feel like I was cheating myself my little tiny "leave me alone for five minutes" breaks...

I needed to keep my hands busy.  Again, I didn't want to gain weight, so I needed something to do with my fidgety hands!  Putting a crochet hook in my hands did the trick!  It felt good to hold a stick in my hands-and this one wasn't a cancer stick!  YEAH!  AND when I was all done holding it I would have something fun to use or display!  Turned out the crochet became very therapeutic for me.

I also put a "no excuses" clause on my quitting.  In the past, I would let things "allow" me to smoke.  Maybe someone made me mad, maybe life got stressed, or maybe I was just in a pissy mood.  I told myself this time around there is NO EXCUSES to start smoking .  I was really put to the test because a few months after I quit my husband was deployed to Iraq.  I figured that this would be the ultimate test, if I could make this deployment smoke-free I was a winner.

I figured out how much I'd been spending on cigarettes, and put away that money that I would have spent for a whole year.  We used it to do fun family things and YARN!  LOTS OF YARN!!!  It was so nice to SEE what we had earned by my selfishness.

Anyhow, that is how I quit smoking.   Maybe it will help you or someone else, maybe not...but it worked for me.  December 13, 2008 at 2 PM I quit.  I have not even had a puff since.  I admit that I actually still will say that I loved smoking.  LOVED it.  BUT I didn't love it more than I loved myself or my family...and I surely didn't love it more than YARN!  I will always smell it and think, "GAWD I LOVE THOSE THINGS."  But I will never EVER have a puff.