A few words that I hope will help you. I'm 45, I've been smoking for 27 years, and in April 2004 I was smoking 50-60 cigarettes a day. I already tried to quit 5 times without success, and now I'm on my 6th attempt. What motivates me is a constant cough which even stops me from sleeping, having to stop 1 or 2 times in order to climb a flight of stairs, and a lung specialist who keeps saying, carry on like this, and you aren't going to be around for long. I have a little 2 year old boy, after we tried for 8 years and eventually underwent fertility treatment. During my wife's pregnancy I tried to quitbut failed miserably! Now I'm on my fifth day without cigarettes, and I'm struggling like you wouldn't believe. The first 2 days were fine but yesterday and today have been so, so hard, even with Zyban to help. How hard would it be without it? What helps me more than anything else is realizing that I was selfish for 27 years, that I've had a little boy I adore for 2 years and that the way I repay all the joy he brings me is by poisoning him with each puff of smoke I breathe out. What kind of a father am I? Yesterday morning, as I was about to crack, I came to this site and read the personal experience of a mother speaking on behalf of her premature baby who was in a critical condition. As I read on, I had a flashback to 2 years ago and realized that the little treasure we waited so long for arrived early with a weight of just over 5 pounds. I can't stop thinking that the reason for that might be his father who poisoned mother and baby, puff by puff. My fifth day is hard, I don't deny it, but I haven't smoked a cigarette. In a year I spend over 3,500 euros on cigarettes, not counting doctor's bills, throat lozenges, cough syrups and goodness knows what else, and my wife puts up with my smoking out of love for me. What kind of a person am I? I'm on my fifth day, I'm scared of cracking but I'm thinking about everything I've written and I'm determined to do this for my wife and son. I'm with all you who are ex-smokers or want to be ex-smokers, and my dream is to be able to prove that I'm a part of this family of ex-smokers. I believe that dreams can come true, and that the prizes we cherish the most are those which were the hardest to win. The best prize I could ever win would be to become an ex-smoker. Best wishes to all of you.

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Here I am, face to face with reality, face to face with my stupidity. Here I am, and I don't understand. The worst thing that cigarettes contain is Addiction, as that takes away your free will, your determination and even a part of your personality, which is burned away without you realising it in those puffs of pleasure! The cigarette is the partner of all the difficult moments that will always be there. The need for a cigarette is deeply embedded in our lungs when life gets us down, when stress overwhelms us, when boredom overcomes us, when our senses are heightened, when fear strikes us, when our cravings become intolerable, when the force of habit is too strong This loyal friend could be there until our dying moments, until our last gasp on our death bed. This family member, this companion, fills our brain with so much smoke that we can no longer do anything without it we are afraid of living without it instead of with it. Here I am, face to face with myself, face to face with the distressing reality, but I am full of hope and I say NO to this poisonous partnership.

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The biggest hostage taker of all time! Nearly a million and a half hostages around the world. A hostage executed every 5 seconds. A new hostage captured every second as he lights his first cigarette. An astonishing ransom paid in small installments with the purchase of each packet. For over 50 years, tobacco companies have been the hostage takers. What's their weapon of choice? The cigarette! And their technique? Brainwashing. Yes, it's incredible how low the companies will go and still go to fool nearly a third of the human race, under the lax (complicit?) gaze of the government, who are far too concerned with not killing the hen that laid the golden egg. The most beautiful piece of deception in the world, carefully dressed up in pretty, colorful packets. That cowboy proudly posing in front of an evening sky, the immortalized camel, the hero in your favorite film, the associated moments such as coffee breaks, meals, aperitifs, etc., the reassuring feeling that you can buy your favorite packet whenever you like and wherever you are in the world, and the reassuring opinions of smokers who are so happy to be smokers. What a masterful achievement to make dependence on a hard, addictive, murderous drug seem just as vital as eating, sleeping, drinking, or breathing. And making the relief of nicotine withdrawal seem like the greatest pleasure known to man! Pleasure? Would you buy a pneumatic drill just to feel the pleasure when the noise stops? Or would you buy shoes that were too small for you and wear them all day long, just to feel the pleasure of taking them off in the evening? Would you bang your head against a brick wall just to feel the pleasure of stopping? And would you light up that heaven-sent cigarette to put an end to the feeling of lack that tortures your spirit? Well yes, of course you would! The directors of tobacco companies have succeeded in poisoning our subconscious, in making us believe that we need to smoke. The most effective way of pulling the rug from under their feet is thereforeto stop smoking! Remember that just one smoker who stops represents thousands of francs pulled from the industry, and also the state, in the years to come. Smokers, let's rise up against this dictatorship and become non-smokers!

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Dear Readers, I have been smoking for 37 years and this is my third serious attempt and it will be the final one. I will never smoke again, ever. I know this because I will not fall into the traps which caused me to start again. Always an excuse, the fact that I felt amazing, what could one cigarette do, I would just have one, etc... Once you quit, its forever, you can never have one again. I suffer from asthma and recently had trouble breathing, especially at night, coughing and wheezing was keeping me awake. A month ago, I woke up and thought to myself, if I don't stop and listen to my body, this smoking will kill me. I ordered a high-end running machine, and started a beginners training. Its been over three weeks now. At first I could hardly breathe and now I run every day, fragmented walk and run, building it up. I am so proud that I can actually run for 2 x 15 minutes with a 2 minute walk in between and am progressing daily. It has kept my weight off, and I am feeling fitter than ever before. I sleep really well, my skin looks great. I still think of smoking often, but still have acid-reflux sometimes, which will go, but is there to keep me in check... our bodies are amazing and forgiving, I have learnt to listen and trust it. Learn to live and quit

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I smoked 2 packs a day for 20 years. I will be forever grateful to the Psychologist who told me "Smoking is a learned behavior and anything learned can be unlearned". The reason I am so grateful is because I think that made the difference in my success after 2 failed attempts. I looked back at how did I learn how to do this? Because he was right. It was just like a child learning to walk. Initially there is a lot of effort and then it gets into the subconscious mind so you don't think about it anymore but if you attempt to stop without looking at how you started, you will always feel deprived, I believe. my quitting process was mostly accomplished in a month and a half but fully done by 3 months. I really unlearned the habit and learned how to be a non-smoker. I have been smoke-free since March 13, 1986 at the age of 38 years. Woo Hoo!

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