To think that you are weak.....

[Saltycopporn]

If you smoke and won't give it up.

Surely other than being stupid that is the only reason to persist with such a vile habit.

I smoked myself until five years ago and I will admit that I found the thought of a life without cigarettes terrifying. I tried to convince myself and those around me that I enjoyed smoking when the truth was that due to being addicted I hated the feeling of not smoking. Five years down the line I feel just like you do after a cigarette all the time.

As a former addict I can say that although you don't think it's that bad you do smell. Those you say it's not that bad are being polite or they are used to it. When your kids are at school it is likely that people will know you smoke just by being near them.

Also do you want to meet your future grandchildren? I've just left the home of someone who will never meet his and it is heartbreaking. He used to say that it helped him relax but now he tells me that his throat was so dry and agonisingly painful that he hasn't slept since Monday afternoon.

I'm aware that in being contentious with this post but why else would you carry on knowing all of these reasons and more?

I started smoking again after a decade. I'm well-aware of how much they smell and how dangerous they are. I pray they'll kill me before things actually get worse. I shall never give up again.

LadyBeagleEyes, after i read that book i still went outside and had a smoke.

You're not being contentious, just a boring eejit.

My ds aged 43 is still a heavy smoker he lives abroad in a country where smoking is the norm.I have begged and pleaded with him to no avail.I cant believe he is terminally stupid but he must be.Its not weakness because he just hasn't tried it doesnt hep thet his wife's 99[nearly 100] yr old grandad has smoked heavily all his life and puts his longevity down to only drinking tepid drinks and wearing long knitted underwear Summer and Winter .
I have never smoked but I am weakwilled [chocolate and cake] and stupid.

Blah, blah, blah. My dad's been a heavy smoker since the early 50s. He's nearly 80 and still alive, still smoking, seen grandchildren.

By contrast, my 9-year-old daughter, who never smoked or what have you, got cancer when she was 8 and died within months.

You don't know how long you'll live. That's teh bottom line.

Couldn't agree with you more expat, I've followed your threads.
I bet your dad stinks though .

I don't find him stinky, no. He used to take a pipe in the 70s. Now that was smelly!

Why do people like you OP preach to the converted?

I have smoked on and off for 29 years. I am aware it stinks and makes my breath honk for far far longer than it takes to smoke a cigarette. I am also aware that it is costing me a fortune and will more than likely kill me.
imo it is not the smoker who doesn't understand the risks or the realities of how bad they smell and how drastically it ages them, it is the non smokers and ex smokers who ask for the simple answer as to why smokers don't just stop, who don't understand the addiction.
Do you really believe OP that smokers are all blind with no sense of smell? Sheesh.
For anyone who has found the Allen Carr books not to be helpful, may I suggest Gillian Riley's book 'how to give up smoking and stay stopped for good'. As well as being free from 'scare stories' it explains about the psychological effects of smoking addiction and does not put pressure on you to stop smoking, and imo it has helped me to quit cold turkey bearably and relatively easily. Just a suggestion mind, because smoking is your choice, and absolutely nothing to do with being weak or stupid fgs.

Salty, that's not what I asked, and there is a difference between our respective posts. Reacting to a post where the op is asking for reactions: not random. Starting a thread to tell strangers that they are weak: random.

Besides, I think you lost sight of the second level here - which is that people can cast all sorts of judgments on you, just as much as you on them.

Weak?! Ooh, lady, I could tell you some tales that'd make your hair curl!

LadyBeagle and littlemiss someone told me once that Allen Carr's arguments did not work on people of higher intelligence

So there you go

Quitting smoking is, it has been said, as hard as quitting crack... Because not only is it addictive (so when you quit you're fighting physical cravings) it's habit forming too, so you have certain triggers to fight (first thing in the morning, after food etc which constantly remind you of smoking even if you're not getting a nicotine craving at the time.

I managed to quit 13 months ago after many attempts and will never be someone that can have the odd social cigarette, more's the pity as I enjoyed some cigarettes (especially the ones with a drink)

But in the end I found something I wanted more than cigarettes, so they had to go.

It took lots of strength to quit. But I wasn't by any means weak or stupid before I did. But you know that already OP

I'm sorry you're having a hard time at the moment