Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking - Allen Carr [17]
Smokers’ lives are significantly more stressful than non-smokers’. This is because tobacco does not relax you or relieve stress, as the brainwashing would have you believe. Just the reverse: smoking actually causes you to become more nervous, stressed and far less relaxed than non-smokers. You don’t need a degree in Biochemistry to know this, just look around—it’s plain to see.
The whole business of smoking is like wandering into a giant maze. As we enter the maze our minds become misted up and clouded, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to find our way back out.
I spent thirty-three years trying to escape from that maze. Like all smokers, I couldn’t understand it. However, due to a combination of unusual circumstances, none of which reflect any credit on me, I wanted to know why previously it had been so desperately difficult to stop and yet, when I did finally quit, it was not only easy but enjoyable.
Since stopping smoking, my hobby and later my life’s work has been to try to solve the many conundrums associated with smoking. It is a complex and fascinating puzzle and, like the Rubik’s Cube, practically impossible to solve without assistance. However, like all complicated puzzles, if you have an instruction manual and know the solution, it is easy! I have the solution to stopping smoking easily and this book is your instruction manual. I will lead you out of the maze and ensure that you never wander into it again. All you have to do is follow the instructions. This means exactly what it says. If you don’t follow an instruction, then in effect you take a wrong turn in trying to escape from the maze. One wrong turn renders the rest of the instructions meaningless.
Let me be very clear about this: any smoker can find it easy to stop smoking, but first we need to establish the facts. No, I do not mean statistics about lung cancer, heart disease and the many other conditions caused by smoking. You are already aware of this information and if it was going to stop you from smoking, it would have done so years ago. I mean, why do we find it difficult to stop? In order to answer this question we first need to know why we smoke.
CHAPTER 5
WHY WE SMOKE
Most of us started smoking for largely stupid reasons, usually involving a degree of peer pressure, but once we become aware that we’re hooked, why do we carry on smoking?
No smoker truly understands why he or she smokes. If they did, they would stop immediately and effortlessly. I have asked this question of thousands of smokers during my consultations. The correct answer is the same for all smokers, but the variety of replies is infinite. All smokers know in their heart of hearts that they have been scammed. They know that they had no need to smoke before they became hooked. Most of them can remember that their first cigarette tasted awful and that they had to work hard to tolerate the disgusting smell and taste. Smokers are intelligent, rational human beings. They know that they are taking enormous risks with their health and their family’s future and that they spend a fortune on cigarettes in their lifetime. Therefore it is necessary for them to develop a rational explanation to justify their smoking.
The actual reason why smokers continue to smoke is a subtle combination of the factors I will elaborate on in the next two chapters. They are:
1. NICOTINE ADDICTION
2. BRAINWASHING
CHAPTER 6
NICOTINE ADDICTION
Nicotine, a colorless, oily compound, is the drug contained in tobacco that addicts the smoker. It is the most addictive drug