Quitting smoking (or any addiction; I've never smoked but have overcome an addiction) is like getting out of a hot shower on a cold winter day. That is, you have to quit cold turkey. When you're in that shower, you can feel it's cold outside. But you can't just lower water pressure, little by little. Nor can you turn the temperature down little by little. Some people try to just reduce the amount they smoke at first, but that will just make you crave those times you do smoke. Like the shower, it will just make things worse.
If you're in the shower on a cold day, you have to keep turning the water hotter and hotter just to feel warm. People with addictions can attest that it's the same; you need more and more of the thing you're addicted to just to feel the same as you did when you started.
But just like a shower, you have to just turn the water off completely. And for a little while, it will really suck. You'll be freezing cold. Maybe even shivering. But then you start to dry off, and it's not as bad anymore. And you get dressed, put on nice warm clothes, and eventually you barely even remember what it was like to be freezing cold, and you no longer desire the warm water.
Overcoming an addiction is like getting out of a warm shower on a cold winter day...
If you're in the shower on a cold day, you have to keep turning the water hotter and hotter just to feel warm. People with addictions can attest that it's the same; you need more and more of the thing you're addicted to just to feel the same as you did when you started.
But just like a shower, you have to just turn the water off completely. And for a little while, it will really suck. You'll be freezing cold. Maybe even shivering. But then you start to dry off, and it's not as bad anymore. And you get dressed, put on nice warm clothes, and eventually you barely even remember what it was like to be freezing cold, and you no longer desire the warm water.
Overcoming an addiction is like getting out of a warm shower on a cold winter day...