Stuck with the smoking behavior?
It really is true. It is not just about quitting smoking.
It is really about developing a healthy mind-set, and from
that, develop a healthy life in general. Good health is a
way of life.
I believe that most of the people who do not succeed at
quitting smoking find themselves stuck with it because the
only change they really try to make is the stopping of the
smoking behavior itself. Everything else remains the same.
There life doesn't really change. But when the goal becomes
"being a healthy person", then "everything" changes.
Smoking is only a symptom of an unhealthy life or unhealthy
way of thinking and believing. When a person takes an
interest in creating a healthy "life", every aspect of life
becomes reconsidered and reevaluated.
Let me give you an example; one that applies to my life. A
few years ago, in my early 50's, the people in my inner
circle who were within my age group were dropping off like
flies. Mostly from cancer. One had a heart attack but
survived and is now partially disabled. Why should this
interest someone who wants to quit smoking? I am not
sharing this to tell you that smoking can make you sick.
You already know that and there are plenty of people in
your life to graciously point this out to you. You don't
need one more people-fixer to straighten you out and cause
you to get frustrated, angry and develop the desire to
smoke even more just to spite them. I am sharing about
those people who got sick for the purpose of telling you
what motivated me to make a change while I still had my
health.
The key point here is that I decided it was time to develop
a healthy "life" in order to maintain my current condition
while it was still good. I realized that I was paddling
down a river that had a waterfall ahead and I did not want
to fall over it. I decided to get out of that river and get
into another one that was more safe. So for me, I did not
want to get cancer or some other major physical breakdown.
I want to be healthy in my old age and to die healthy; ha,
ha! As a result I developed an interest in a healthy diet.
The research I have done has convinced me that an
unhealthy, non-nutritional diet is the main cause of
internal physical illness along with certain lifestyle
contributing factors.
In some of my other writings, I mentioned that "desire" is
where change begins. I really had a desire to be on a
healthy diet and to lead a healthy lifestyle. Well, I did
in fact, get on a healthy diet. Before doing so, I was 15
pounds overweight. This did not concern me in the slightest
nor did I look overweight. I really never gave it a thought
and it was not my motivation for changing my diet. It
really never occurred to me that I would lose weight nor
did I even try to. My only thoughts were about maintaining
good internal health. Now here is where I come to the point
I am making. Within two years after changing my diet, I
lost 30 pounds. This was a by-product of developing a
healthy life. (Here is a side note, then I will get back to
the point. One similarity to quitting smoking and going
through nicotine withdrawal, was quitting all the sugar and
going through sugar withdrawal. This was the most difficult
part which lasted only a few months. It really can be done
when you are "inspired" to obtain a greater reward. For
nicotine withdrawal, there are all natural products to help
with this phase. For the sugar withdrawal, I just drew on
the strength of my determination about who and what I
really wanted to be. This comes from an inspired desire
that wells up from within. No one can give you that. You
either have it or you don't. It usually requires being
ready for it. This is something that comes in time and it
can't be forced.)
Now, to get back to the point. After losing the 30 pounds,
I discovered other dietary things that I believed would be
even more beneficial to my long-term health. By adding
these things to my diet program, I started losing even more
weight. I did not want to, but I did. I actually got
scared. I thought I might have made myself sick; the very
opposite of what I was trying to do. I started weighing
myself every day because if this continued, I was going to
run to the doctor. By the end of the 3rd year, I lost
another 10 pounds. I had now lost a total of 40 pounds.
Then finally the weight stopped coming off. I was relieved.
As it turned out, I was just fine. Since then I have
enjoyed a few foods (in moderation) that I previously
eliminated. This brought my weight back up about 10-15
pounds but I am at a nice body weight.
Here is specifically the point. Making a change in my life
for the purpose of being a healthy person had a side
benefit. Namely, weight loss. Though this was not my
purpose, it is just the natural result of developing a
healthy life in general. When our desire is "to be a
healthy person and have a healthy life", then all these
other issues (smoking, drinking, overweight, etc.) just
take care of themselves, so-to-speak. Regarding smoking,
once your desire changes from "wanting to quit the smoking
behavior" to "wanting to be a healthy person with a healthy
life", then your whole life focus changes. It is no longer
about "stopping" something (which only causes frustration).
Instead, you become inspired to "become" something new; to
develop something new; a new life! It becomes more
interesting and exciting. Can you feel the difference? In
many ways, you become a renewed person with a whole new
approach to life that changes many areas of your life along
with a new purpose and new lifestyle.
To your good health!
----------------------------------------------------
Frank Andrews is the author of two self-help books. This
developed as the result of being a student of personal
development for over 25 years. Having worked through many
of his own personal struggles, he now provides information
to help others. You can find free quit-smoking information
on his website at: http://www.AnswersToQuitSmoking.com
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