Hi Colleen:
Yes, I'm familiar with Smokers's Helpline and I follow them on Twitter and have contributed to a forum discussion on their Facebook site.
Unfortunately, for me, and many other smokers I know, it doesn't help to have anyone else suggest that we quit or give us tips UNLESS we ask!:) The desire to quit must come from within the person. It's a highly individual choice and there are probably as many motivators for quitting smoking as there are for starting to smoke.
I quit once for eight months a couple of years ago and I will do it again. I just have not yet decided when!:) I used the Alan Carr Easy Way to Stop Smoking method (book) and it worked for me. You smoke while you read the book over a number of days and if you relate to the message as I did you will choose to quit. The message at that time strongly resonated with me and I loved the idea that if you WANT to do something it is almost impossible to suffer. That was key for me as it made perfect sense.
All my previous attenpts to quit were anticipated with a terror of the persistent feelings of withdrawal that I never felt capable of getting past. I always magnified the cravings in my mind and each time I tried to quit I was trying to please someone else or do the right thing, but my heart was not really in it. When I decided I wanted to quit for all the reasons that were personally meaningful to me, I did.
I started smoking again after attending a funeral. In a vulnerable moment I allowed myself to romanticize the comfort I used to associate with smoking and I had one cigarette in secret, then two, three, four until I just gave in and started smoking full time again. I know now that when I quit for good I will have to be prepared for those idealized memories that come back to tempt the once brainwashed smoker that always lives within the ex-smoker. Once I quit I learned how to express my feelings instead of swallowing them in a cloud of smoke.
When I had quit I suffered only for a few days minor physical pangs which felt like feelings of anxiety located in my mid section. They were tolerable because I was prepared for those feelings and I knew they were caused by the physical withdrawal and would pass. They did. I really wanted to quit then and I am convinced that is why I could do it without suffering. I didn't need a support group, I didn't talk much about it, didn't count the days, because I was doing something I want to do - not smoke. If a person was going on a vacation and they really thought it would be a happy experience and they could afford it and had the time, they would not be feeling upset or off-kilter, they'd be celebrating. That's how I felt when I stopped smoking, It was all positive so I genuinely embraced my decision and that attitude was the ticket for me.
Many people continue to smoke because they believe they will suffer for the rest of their lives and that's no exaggeration. Many ex-smokers I know who quit via the willpower method still crave and still feel deprived - sometimes many, many years later. For me that would be torture. I had tried that over the years and never had success and will never again to choose the willpower way to stop smoking.
Before I quit again, I need to believe that I want to do it and that I can not only handle the short withdrawal period, but that I will not have to suffer because I will be doing something I wish to do and which is positive. The time is coming, I just don't know when.
VHcath