The Art of Zen Living

On January first this year, I put “quit smoking” on my list of goals for this year.  Yesterday was my 100th day smoke free.  I have a mixture of emotions about it.  I expected to be ecstatic when I hit 100 days.  I wasn’t.  In fact, I almost didn’t notice.  A friend of mine asked me 2 days before when my 100th day was coming up.  I said I wasn’t sure, but thought it was a few weeks or so.  I pulled up my trusty Excel spreadsheet and discovered that it was yesterday.  “Oh, it’s this Sunday.” I said.

“What?  You need to blog about that!” She replied.

“Really?  I mean, do you really think so?”

I can’t exactly describe the look she gave me at this point.  It was somewhere between “what, are you stupid?” and “you’ve GOT to be kidding me!”.  All she said was “Yes.  I think you should blog about it.”.

I started smoking when I was 13.  By the time I was a freshman in high school, I was smoking about a half a pack a day, and shortly after that I settled into a pack-a-day habit that I spent 25 years wanting to break.  It’s not that I hadn’t tried before.  I went to Culver Military School my Junior year.  It was a “drug free” and “smoke free” campus.  Well, on paper it was.  In practice, I was exposed to more illicit experiences there than anywhere before or since.  I quit for the first 9 weeks - it was a miserable experience.  Then I went home for a weekend leave.  I bought a pack at the airport, just to see what I’d liked about it in the first place, and was hooked again.  I tried cold turkey, the gum, the mints, the patch, the tea, toothpicks, lollipops - you name it.  I even tried Zyban (twice) and Chantix.  All to no avail.  The Commit mints came the closest to working - they let me cut down my smoking to the point I was only having 10 or so a week.  Never managed to actually quit.  Would those of you that have been patiently reading along excuse me for one second?  Thanks.

HERE!  START READING AGAIN HERE!

For those of you skimming looking for this part, we’ve arrived at the “how did I” section.

First, I made a commitment to quit.  An absolute, ironclad commitment that no matter what else happened, in the next 3 months I was going to quit smoking.  With that decision made, I decided there was no shame in getting some help - as much as I could.

Second, I picked a date.  I decided to go get Chantix.  I read up about Chantix.  I read good things and bad things.  I knew what the side effects were.  I knew (from previous experience) that Chantix doesn’t eliminate the urge to smoke.  Mostly it takes the pleasure out of smoking.  It always felt to me like it was a side effect of that process that made me smoke less.  I knew that if I relied on Chantix alone I’d cut down to about half of what I normally smoked, but I wouldn’t quit.  So I picked a day (February 8th) that I would quit.  I picked a Friday quite on purpose.

Third, I made sure I was going to be setting myself up for success.  I picked a Friday because that way I could be at home by myself all weekend.  There were people that suggested I get out and about because it would be more distracting, but I did not waiver. I needed to be home, away from people and with lots of things to distract me.  I let Tivo fill up with shows, I had 3 new DVDs from Netflix, and I had some (fun) kitchen projects to work on.  I warned everyone - friends, family, boss - that this was my weekend, and not to be offended if I didn’t answer the phone or check e-mail.  The first day I think your body is still a little in shock.  The second and third days it’s heavy nicotine withdraw.

Fourth, I limited my exposure to triggers.  I’d been taking Chantix for 3 weeks by the time my quit day arrived, and in that time, I’d stopped smoking in all my “usual” places.  I smoked down by the dumpster instead of out on my lanai.  I didn’t smoke in the car.  I smoked across the back of the building at work rather than where I parked.  In effect, I changed all my triggers for smoking to things I didn’t normally do. If you’re trying to quit, I highly recommend doing this.

Fifth, I limited my exposure to stress.  I put my friends and family on notice that the next several months were going to be about me as far as I was concerned.  I was going to live a very simple, sheltered life - go to work, come home, check mail and e-mail, go for my walk, make dinner, do a light work out, watch some TV, go to bed.  Get up and do it again the next day.

Sixth, I got up and did it again the next day.  There are some other tips and tricks, and I’ll do a “Top Ten” article this week about tips and tricks to help you stop smoking, but by far this is the most important one.  Do it today.  Get up in the morning and don’t smoke today.  Now that you’ve done it once, make it a part of your daily routine.  That first day wasn’t so bad for me.  The next day, Saturday, I had stomach cramps, and cold sweats.  I was agitated and shaky.  The next day was better.  The day after that, even better.  It took a while, but eventually my body adjusted to live without nicotine.

I don’t imagine there will ever come a day when I don’t miss smoking.  I don’t imagine there will ever come a day that I’ll miss it enough to give up all the things I enjoy about NOT smoking to go back to it.  What I know for sure, is that today will not be that day.