Quitting smoking is a matter of willpower...

Quitting smoking isn't really 
about using some other nicotine 
based diversion to break the habit.
It isn't about some "quit date" 
that becomes more intimidating 
as the time grows closer;  and it 
isn't about instilling fear as the 
tool to force someone to quit. 
And it sure isn't about keeping 
the habit in place with a fake 
cigarette. It's about making a 
clear-headed positive choice to 
approach life from a healthy 
point of view and outlook for 
the future. I quit believing that, 
if I did, I stood a good chance
of recovering the health I was 
rapidly losing. One morning,
I could no longer breathe. In 
addition, my skin had been 
turning grey, faster than my 
hair. My sense of smell had 
been gone for a couple of years.
My mind wasn't far behind.
But it was the not-being-able-to-
breathe thing that did it. Lucky
for me my lungs won. I made 
a pact with Whoever to give me 
more air. I replaced cigarettes 
with raisins, honey roasted 
peanuts, turkey sandwiches 
and chocolate. COLD TURKEY
sandwiches.  I threw tantrums, 
screamed, shook, and tried to 
chew on furniture. I refused to 
leave the house. I wrote and 
drew like it was the last thing I 
was ever going to do, because I 
wasn't exactly sure if it wasn't 
actually the last thing I was 
ever going to do... I created 
this graphic piece as a mantra; 
and recall those first three days 
as being the worst/best of my 
life. They are chronicled in 
Chapter 6 of my book, 
Romancing The Smoke. 

Willpower in quitting smoking
is when your mind has finally
had enough of your brain trying 
to tell you what you need... -J.A.