By Eli Farrington
Are you a bummy little college kid with an addictive personality and zero self control? Do your eyebrows cartoonishly perk up at the thought of a drunk ciggy? Or, perhaps your mouth begins to water as the scent of a Miami Mint Geek Bar wafts into the room. If you answered yes to any of these questions, I’m afraid you may be addicted to nicotine.
I know that might be a hard pill for some of you to swallow, but trust me when I say that all hope is not lost. Fear not, fiends, for I once stood in your shoes. I hereby present to you my extremely unorthodox, somewhat fried, highly foolish, and yet surprisingly effective method that helped me to quit nicotine twice. Beware, that does not mean it will work for you.
Phase one: I had a couple of drinks. I don’t support binge drinking, or abuse of any substance for that matter, but I guess the whole technique sort of depended on this first step. The next day, I woke up with a nasty hangover, and the absolute last thing that I wanted was to consume nicotine in any form. I spent the rest of the day taking it easy, and before I knew it, I’d gone a whole day without nicotine.
Phase two: When I woke up on day two, I was feeling pretty good. The thought of nicotine did pop into my head a few times throughout the day, but I used the power of free will and self control to curb my cravings. I stayed home, watched some movies, and avoided hanging out with anyone that I would usually smoke with. I also intentionally avoided putting myself in stressful situations.
Phase three: Day three was the real challenge. By this point, I would have bummed a cigarette from a soggy pile of dirt if given the chance. To get through day three, I basically did a lot of research. I always knew how bad smoking was for me, but it was so easy to ignore all the research. I did as much research as possible, to the point where I was able to convince myself how much I hated being addicted to nicotine. I convinced myself how much better my life would be without it, and that’s what got me through day three.
Once I got through day four, I got myself to a week. From there, I knew I was over the hump. I’m now writing this after almost two weeks, which is around the same time that my cravings stopped last time I did this, about a year ago. I’m not saying that you should try this method yourself. All I’m saying is that it’s worked for me both of the times that I’ve tried it, and after completing it for a second time, I can confidently say that I’m never looking back.
Eli Farrington is a junior journalism student and the news editor for The Lumberjack. He enjoys foiling secret plots, keeping his finger on the pulse, and getting to the bottom of mysteries in his free time.
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