Posted by Tim B on 1/4/2012, 9:23 pm, in reply to "Re: New Year, New You...Our Choice"
69.250.45.125
Dave,
I hear you and I'm in the same boat. While I think about the health consequences of smoking, I truly do not want to quit and have never honestly entertained the idea. I started smoking at 13 or so and now at 43 I still love being a smoker. The one thing I did a few days ago is download an application on my phone to track how much I smoke. I always assumed I was a pack a day smoker but I wanted to see exact numbers and trends. What I found was that I was pretty much on target...over the last week I've smoked a high of 19 cigarettes and a low of 7 cigarettes per day. Most days I'm right at 16 or 17 cigarettes, which is slightly lower than I expected. And here's something for those that push the addiction aspect of smoking...I had two days in a row where I smoked 7 and 9 cigarettes. That's half as much as I normally smoke and you know what, I didn't have nasty cravings at all. I believe so much of smoking is a mind game anyway. Those two days I was not in my usual routine and was participating in physical activity. Hence, I smoked less because at those times I tend to focus less on smoking. I really didn't notice it's just what happened. So, after being a regular, daily smoker for 30 years I can still pull it off with no effort. There goes the addiction as bad as heroin theory right out the window.
But, alas, I self identify as a smoker and enjoy my habit so I will continue with my normal amounts, which I have. What I notice is that in my normal routine I rely on my smoke breaks like clock work because it's my routine. Taken out of that routine, I can go longer between cigarettes. The only cigarettes that I cannot go without are the first of the day, which if I do, I feel the pain.
So what comes first...addiction or enjoyment of smoking? The two play on each other no doubt, but I think simple enjoyment of smoking that a smoker gets trumps addiction. Now it gets complicated because as a regular smoker a big part of my enjoyment of smoking a cigarette is satisfying the need for nicotine. As any regular smoker knows, satisfying that need makes the experience much more enjoyable.
Tim B
--Previous Message--
: I actually can't imagine much that would be
: worse than having to smoke merely because
: of an addiction, despite not wanting to. The
: problem with quitting, as I tell folks who
: ask me if I've thought about it, is that I
: don't want to quit because I love being a
: smoker. And as you say Tim, you have to want
: to quit to be willing to put up with the
: cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
:
: Like most smokers, I'd prefer not to have
: the health risks that go along with smoking,
: but I accept them because of the tremendous
: pleasure I get from lighting up. In fact,
: I'd go so far as to say that the
: anti-tobacco activists are dead wrong when
: they claim that the problem with smoking
: tobacco is that it is "as addictive as
: heroin" and the like. The
: "problem" with smoking is that
: unlike heroin and almost all other illicit
: drugs, being a cigarette smoker is intensely
: pleasurable and continues to be so for
: decades, making it next to impossible not
: to quit , but to really want to quit .
:
: As for the "New Year, New You"
: crap--thankfully I don't have a TV so I'm
: not exposed to the vast majority of it.
: Since I kinda like the "old me"
: I'm pretty much immune to such messages
: anyway, but what would bother me about them
: is the same thing that bothered me about TV
: in general--the sheer cheesiness and
: intellectual laziness of it, as though
: everyone needs a little programming beacon
: in their home to tell them what to do, when
: to do it, what's good and bad, what's cool,
: and how to think in general. I do not
: pretend that I am unaffected by the society
: I live in (I'm certainly a better person
: because of the influence of others), but
: the simplicity and banality of television's
: approach to almost everything it touches is
: gag-inducing, at least to me. "New
: year, new you," indeed--BLEECH!
:
: --Previous Message--
: We're fresh into 2012 so no doubt we're
: going
: to be bombarded with television commercials
: about quitting smoking...again. There were a
: couple posts on here speaking of freedom of
: choice to smoke. I'm a smoker, so obviously,
: I follow this belief. What I get so tired of
: hearing is that it's simply addiction that
: keeps us smoking. I know for me, it's much
: more than that. I'm not saying I don't get
: the nicotine cravings when I can't smoke,
: but if I really wanted, I could get past
: those and go on to being an ex-smoker.
: Simply, I choose to smoke because I enjoy it
: like countless others. We all know someone
: who has quit smoking with no problem. The
: key to their instant success is that they
: were mentally ready to give up smoking. The
: problem today is that we are all brain
: washed into thinking we only smoke because
: we are addicted...not so in my opinion.
: Addiction is just a part of the habit, but
: not the whole picture.
:
: Wishing everyone here a good 2012!
:
: Tim B
:
:
:
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