Only a smoker will know the feeling of emancipation that comes with the first morning puff. As the vicious dark smoke enters the lungs and mingles with the blood waiting for ablution. The bad blood however gets more than it bargained for; more carbon. As the nicotine enters the blood stream and sails towards the mainframe of the body, it carries along with it a sense of well being, spreading cheer among the millions of cells waiting for their hourly dose. And finally the little grey cells, now almost desperate find their dose of energy, the nicotine encouraging them to party harder, even if it wears them out. And that is when you feel the sudden surge of energy. The over worked brain cells egged on by the nicotine send out false signals of well being to other parts of the body, urging you, the smoker to indulge more in the killer stimulant.

Every one knows about the advantages of smoke free living. Hence let me skip that part and jump straight to the topic of utmost interest-how to quit smoking.

Different strategies can be followed here:

1. The Thud:
This is the case with most of the successful quitters. One fine day you decide to quit and you just go ahead and do it. Thud! You never look back.

Many a times though, the crazy mind pulls you back to the smoke and you are back to square one. The Thud requires conviction and utmost power of will. This works best when you have had a bad experience with the smoke and the iron mind is hot enough to be molded.

2. The Lag:
People tell me they have quit smoking for a month. And during the month they count days and finally reach out to the smoke before the stipulated 30 days. Never works or maybe it works in some cases. Going back to the smoke is never a good idea and when you do, you go back with twice the force. The Lag is a nice way to pacify yourself that you might eventually quit but the best way to do it is to do it with a Thud.

3. The Crawl:
Many people find this the most effective method of quitting. Start by reducing the number of smokes in a day. When you reach to one smoke a day, increase the number of days and so on until you are finally able to quit completely. This is an intermediate way and can work better than the Lag.

If you are still looking for tips on how to quit smoking, forget it. You will never be able to do it. There might be millions and millions of advisors and helpers but the one person who can really help you is You, yourself.

* Sit and introspect for a while everyday and stick to your decision.

* Never count days once you have quit. Quitting is forever. Counting days might bring up the smoker devil in you again.

* Challenge yourself and know that you will win.

The adage, “Self help is the best help”, seems to have been made for all of you smokers who are trying their best to quit. If you have made up your mind to do it, go ahead and win. If you are yet undecided, now is a good time to start.

Life is beautiful. Let’s live it smoke free.