There will come a time in your life as a reformed smoker when you will come close, very close to going back down the familiar route. I’m not talking about one or even two or three – im talking back to your normal habit, back in full swing.
It might be one drunken night in the pub when you bought a packet promising to only have one. The danger is that the next day, you will be in a very bad mindset and it takes enormous strength and determination to get out of that mindset.
Once you have gone back, you’ve had one, two, three, even a packet in a moment of madness, it becomes almost certain that you will continue. You start to think that because you have caved, you might aswell go back to old ways. This isn’t the case, it’s a setback. We all have setbacks in life – that’s what makes it so dam hard, but it’s how we deal with them that makes us the people we are. The first thing you need to do when dealing with a setback such as this is to recognise the danger – this is absolutely crucial. If you don’t recognise what the danger is, you can’t prepare for the potential hazards.
The main danger is slipping into the mindset discussed earlier. You need to add reason to this mindset by acknowledging the fact there was a mistake and promising yourself that it won’t happen again. No need to take it any further and give it any more thought. So what if you have a packet left over from last night? Throw it out.
It’s difficult and this type of problem is responsible for a large percentage of people picking the habit up again. For most, if they can just stay strong through periods like this – they can be safe in the knowledge they have firmly kicked the habit.