How can an inanimate object, a cigarette, have such a strong hold on people? Why is is that something so clearly bad for us...causes us to yearn and want so much? To desire? To live for...and ultimately....for many..to die for?

The answer is not simply the addiction aspect. It is the grip with which it grabs us.

As a fish on a hook. We try in vain to pull free...and the hook seems to bury itself even deeper. The secret to a great quit..is to swim with the line....take it one day at a time..don't fight so hard...deep breaths, positive thoughts..and soon the hook will slip away.

All you will be left with is a slight scar..a small hole that soon will heal itself over and leave a temporary scab in its place. But in its parting it will also remind you of the hook. Once in a while you'll feel it...you'll remember...and it'll itch a bit as it heals over, but with each passing day you'll forget a bit more....and soon it will feel like you were never hooked in the first place.

It will seem foreign to you. That is when you will realize that the hook was not holding you back..it was yourself.

If you want to quit..quit. Its not easy...it never is. But its worth it...I threw my hook 416 days ago...and already the scar has healed. And it doesn’t even itch ;-)

Deborah

416 days, 9 hours, 57 minutes and 40 seconds smoke free. 10410 cigarettes not smoked. $4,794.40 and 2 months, 19 days, 12 hours of my life saved! My quit date: 5/3/2004 12:00:00 PM