Danger-Danger-Danger
But something else is happening at a subconscious level that most of us are not aware of. When we smoke that cigarette and satisfy our craving, we F-E-E-L a great sense of relief and we unconsciously DECIDE TO ENJOY THE MOMENT. "I'll take a break from what I'm doing". Or if you have a problem: "I'll allow myself to take a break from worrying about it for JUST a few minutes to enjoy this cigarette". And so you enter for that brief moment into a relaxed, safe, work-free, problem-free period 'enjoying' the cigarette. For those few minutes ... you ALLOW yourself time to relax, FREE of all your worries and concerns. For that brief period ... you relax.And, as time goes on, these 'pleasant, relaxed FEELINGS' become interlinked - totally linked with smoking and certain parts of your day. Every time you have a cigarette, you mentally and emotionally ALLOW yourself ( even if you're not conscious of this happening ) to have a break from your worries and for that moment you feel...
...Happy...
...Safe...
...And Secure.
For those few moments, as you smoke, you do not feel threatened by your problems or responsibilities. This is why people believe smoking helps them if they have a problem.
It is not the cigarette - it is the safe, open feeling that the cigarette seems to evoke. You believe it can help you think more clearly. And as you begin to enjoy these brief periods of peace, safety and relaxation snatched during the day, you do not realize it but you become convinced that these PLEASURABLE FEELINGS are totally linked. You ASSUME that they must be in some way INHERENT in the cigarette itself. What has happened though is that we have transferred pleasurable feelings of peace, relaxation and safety THAT WE HAVE ALLOWED OURSELVES TO EXPERIENCE every time we smoke ... to the cigarette. We have set up a neurological association in our bodies between the act of smoking and these feelings.
Don't you see the good news this contains?
You found it hard to stop in the past (even if you were not aware of this ) because you believed with all your heart that if you stopped smoking, IT WOULD BE A GREAT SACRIFICE and you would lose all these pleasurable feelings and sensations. And what were you told you would experience instead?
Terrible, unpleasant withdrawal pangs.
No wonder you did not want to stop. The truth is, all the time, the enjoyment you experienced had nothing at all to do with the cigarette. You had these nice feelings every time you smoked and so you assumed that in some way, they must be linked. Then you further assumed that if you took away one of the factors ( i.e. smoking ) you would lose the other (i.e. the enjoyment) - the pleasant feelings. This is why the smoker who gives up through understanding of what he or she is doing, unlike the person who struggles along using willpower alone, does not envy those people who still smoke.
Free yourself from smoking through understanding - and not brute willpower!
You can be a happy non-smoker!
~John Ryan~
For more information about John Ryan and his Free 10 day Quit Smoking Course, please visit www.quitsmokingonline.com
