Refusing to Give Up

“I refused to quit quitting. I quit for two years once, another time for one year, and once more for six months. Most recently, I was able to quit for one month. After all these tries, though, I went back to cigarettes. To be successful, I knew I had to make some changes. With the help of the quitline coaches, I decided to use positive self-talk, to change my daily routine to make smoking less familiar, and to better manage stress from my family. These strategies worked really well. But my coaches helped me realized I had even more changes to make. My job required a long commute and I had gotten used to smoking in my car. To stop reminding myself of this strong trigger, I cleaned out my car. The fresh smell reminded me of my commitment to stop smoking. At first, I also carried around corn nuts and other snacks, but I realized that chewing gum could serve the same function (without making me gain weight). Now quit six months, I’m excited to tell people that I don’t smoke any more. And I enjoy a lot more free time.”