HEALTH MATTERS: When recovering smokers take steps to state and implement their personal mission, quitting smoking becomes an important but secondary goal, writes Joe Armstrong
It will be Ash Wednesday next Wednesday. For some, a day of fasting and abstinence - a day when quitting smoking might gain a moment's thought. The best resolutions one can muster - and be dashed an hour, a day or three weeks from now.
You can't mount those stairs like you used to. Cigarettes are holding you back on the sports field. You hate feeling unable to cope without them. You hate what they do to your breath and skin.
If you could just surmount their grip over you, you wonder what other personal challenge might you successfully meet in life? You might feel financial, health or spiritual nudges too.
You enjoy smoking. You love cigarettes. You feel you deserve them - the lift they give you. They calm you down when you want calming; lift you up when you want lifting. You feel life without cigarettes would be a deprivation - like losing an intimate friend.
You love them. You hate them. You want to quit. You want to smoke.
You can stay stuck like this for the rest of your life. You can hear the inner call to quit smoking and do nothing about it. Or you may feel you've more than enough on in your life at the moment, but that you will consider responding to the call later.
Quitting smoking can often be difficult. If you do nothing else this year, you will have achieved a great deal.
How we think can keep us blocked - I cannot quit smoking. I tried before and failed.I couldn't cope with a business meeting without a smoke. I need a cigarette to get my brain in gear in the morning.
This kind of thinking that keeps us smoking also prevents us from getting on with fulfilling our potential.
Imagine the confidence of the person not defeated by a previous relapse. Each relapse is an opportunity to learn more about yourself. Imagine the energy of the ex-smoker in their chosen field who performs excellently - without feeling they somehow faked it, that they couldn't have done it without a cigarette.
Imagine if you could use quitting smoking as the fuel to proceed with and fulfil your personal and professional dreams. Pie in the sky? What is your personal mission? What is important to you? What do you value? When recovering smokers take steps to state and implement their personal mission, quitting smoking becomes an important but secondary goal.
Moreover, focusing on their personal mission, they are more likely to achieve both goals.
Consider your call to quit smoking as a challenge you can meet in becoming more yourself. Work on being yourself, fulfilling your potential and inform yourself about intelligent ways of quitting smoking.
There are already excellent self-help smoking cessation books in any good bookshop. There is active, willing and professional help available through the Irish Cancer Society or the health promotion department of your local health board. Your doctor can advise you about nicotine replacement products.
Quitting smoking is like running a marathon. You don't start off on day one running the 26 miles. You need to prepare your mind, body and soul for the challenge. Get support and advice from others. Knowing your personal reasons for quitting and your personal mission is crucial. n Joe Armstrong, author of Men's Health - The Common Sense Approach, will facilitate a Quit Smoking Retreat at Bellinter House, near Navan, Co Meath on Ash Wednesday/National No Smoking Day, February 13th. For details, ring 046 21241.
The Irish Cancer Society Quitline, Callsave 1850 201 203, is staffed by stop smoking counsellors, who offer support, talk through the process of quitting, and advise on methods of quitting and on coping strategies to deal with withdrawal symptoms. They can offer information on support groups in your area and send you a free advice kit.
Ms Norma Cronin, smoking cessation specialist with the Irish Cancer Society, suggests if people put as much energy into other important things as they put into smoking, they could achieve great things in their life.
