Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Cigarette Addiction

I have been trying to kick my habit of smoking cigarettes, but with many failed attempts. I started smoking cigarettes originally because of curiosity and my environment with both my parents and my friends smoking. I have created the habit of smoking after meals, in my room, work breaks, and while driving. I believe these have all become environmental triggers in my habit. Last summer I was able to stop smoking for three weeks on a vacation to Oregon. The change in environment I believed helped me to overcome, at least temporarily, my habit. This was also reinforced by the people I was with who strongly opposed my habit.
When arriving back home I was smoking again within three days. I believe this is because of my association of the habit with my normal routine, and also a lack peers to motivate me to stop. I am now trying a method in which I put aside money that would be spent on cigarettes(30$ a week) as a visual reinforcement of the money saved. This method has helped me to bring my habit to a pack a week. This form of motivation is between the hedonism of smoking and the long term goal of preventing lung cancer. It appears to be working and hopefully I will kick the habit
completely.

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