The eyebrows of my cardiologist lifted when I conceded that I once smoked 40 cigarettes a day.  Smiling, he then told me that had I said I had never smoked he wouldn’t have known.  My lungs had completely recovered from the effects of 25-years of heavy smoking.  My addiction started when I was a 16-year-old sailor and continued until I was 40-years-of-age.

I had, of course, stopped smoking many times. As the comedian quipped, ‘Giving up smoking is easy. I do it every week.’

So, how did I finally succeed after having failed the stress test so many times before? After all, at that point, most smokers surrender to the habit and carry on without testing their resolve further.

Surprisingly, giving up smoking was one of the easiest things I had ever done. Only afterwards, did I realise the reason for my success was my approach. When in the past I had ‘given up’ I set myself a target. ‘I will see if I can reach midnight, the weekend or whatever.’

That was self-defeating for that ploy conceded that I might fail. If you think there’s a possibility of failure in anything you set out to achieve don’t waste your time on it. You have already capitulated.

I changed my strategy and I remember the incident clearly. I hadn’t planned giving up, not the night or the week before. My decision to never again smoke was purely impulse.

Having lit my cigarette I immediately stubbed it out in the ashtray at the side of my bed. As I did so, I determined that whatever the consequences and regardless of suffering never again would a cigarette touch my lips. I never did so and discovered that giving up smoking really was one of the easiest things I had ever done in my life. Why was this so when on scores of previous attempts I had miserably failed and sometimes within hours.

I had by accident discovered the secret to ridding myself of the smoking habit. I succeeded because not once did I argue the usual pros and cons and equally importantly, not once did I consider that I might fail. Resolute, I assured myself that never again would I smoke and it really was as simple as that.  I had burned my bridges and there could be no return.

Here is the interesting bit that I can describe only in analogy. Imagine little gremlins inside you who are determined to make you pay a high price in suffering for your giving up smoking ~ and they sure make your life hell each time you try . But, in my case, because of my unbending resolve and inner conviction that I would never again touch tobacco the gremlins surrendered. As a consequence the stress of giving up was far less, quite bearable and quickly evaporated. Within six weeks I had succeeded. A cigarette would have knocked me sick.

The worrywarts convince themselves that irreversible damage having already been done it is pointless to deprive oneself of a little ‘harmless pleasure’.

This is a damned lie; the bronchial system within minutes begins to recover. You can actually feel the benefits of giving up smoking within the hour.

Anyone who has tried to kick the habit will have experienced unfamiliar sensations in their chest as they breathe. Worrying isn’t it until you realise that the strange sensation is not negative but a positive.

The awareness is telling you that parts of your lung membranes previously denied oxygen by the tar-like nicotine are finally experiencing the passage of life-giving oxygen. From this realisation, I exulted in the breath-by-breath signs of my improving health.

Naysayers will also claim that when you give up smoking you put on weight. Again, this is a damnable lie. In fact, non-smokers, perhaps because they are healthier and burn up more calories, do not put on weight. Before and after, my weight remained at 88 kg.

A final point: The Westminster regime snatches 80% of taxation on each pack of cigarettes sold. This adds up to £12,000,000,000 each year.  No wonder the migrants are so well looked after. As a smoker, you’re paying for them. ~ Michael Walsh