A Matter of Willpower

I used to be a smoker. Before you say anything, I am well aware that it is the single stupidest thing you can do to your body outside of actually committing suicide. In a way, it is suicide – – it just takes a longer time to get the job done. And it doesn’t do anything for you. Like, at all. It just makes you smell like old musty newspapers mixed with rotting food. So I quit. A lot of people talk about how hard it is, and, yeah, it can be a little difficult at times, but, for the most part, I’m not having any trouble with it at all. I’m posting this to share my method.

One of the main things about quitting smoking is that you have a lot of positive memories of smoking. So a trick you can do is, when you get a craving, you need to replace that absent, longing feeling with a positive thought that reminds you of what you’ve gained by quitting. A co-worker of mine told me that (actually, that’s not true, but I don’t want to sound like a pompous ass by saying I just thought of it myself), and I immediately knew what my thought had to be. Whenever I craved one of those nasty little bastards, I simply thought of the man who is able to overcome great fear through pure damn willpower:

Green Lantern.

Every single time that I think about wanting a cigarette, images of my favorite superhero float through my head instead, both distracting me and simultaneously filling my brain with positive thoughts that have nothing to do with smoking.

Give it a shot. It’s working really well for me.