Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking - Allen Carr [32]
A combination cigarette is one where two or more of our primary triggers for smoking, (i.e. boredom, concentration, relaxation and stress) are present at the same time. Social functions like parties or weddings are good examples of occasions that can be both stressful and relaxing. This might at first appear to be a contradiction, but it isn’t. Any form of socializing can be a little bit stressful, even with friends, and at the same time you are enjoying yourself and relaxing.
There are even situations where all four primary triggers are present at one and the same time. Driving can be one of these. If you are leaving a tense situation, like a visit to the dentist or the doctor, you can now relax. At the same time driving always involves an element of stress. Your life is at stake. You also have to concentrate. And if you are stuck in a traffic jam, or have a long drive on a highway, you may also be bored.
Another classic example is a game of cards. If it’s a game like poker, you have to concentrate. If you are losing, it’s frustrating which can be stressful. If you have long periods of not getting a decent hand, it can be boring. And, while all this is going on, you are at leisure; you are supposed to be relaxing. During a game of cards, all smokers will be chain-smoking, no matter how slight the withdrawal pangs are. Even so-called ‘casual’ smokers will smoke much more than usual. The ashtrays will fill and overflow in no time. There’ll be a constant bluish fog hovering above the table and even the smokers will complain about how smoky the room is getting. If you were to ask any of the smokers whether they were enjoying it, they would look at you as if you were mad. It is often after nights like these, when we wake up with a throat like sandpaper and a mouth like a cesspit that we decide to try to stop smoking.
These combination cigarettes are often considered by smokers to be ‘special’ ones, the ones we think we’ll miss the most when we stop smoking. We think that life will never be quite as enjoyable again.
Most of these so-called ‘special’ cigarettes come either at a time that’s enjoyable anyway, regardless of whether you are a smoker or a non-smoker (after a meal, a coffee break, having a drink with friends etc.) in which case the cigarette is getting the credit for something that is fun anyway, or after a period of abstinence (after a meal, a coffee break, the first of the day, after a long flight etc.) where we are enjoying not the cigarette, but the ending of the irritation of not being allowed to smoke. This is explained in more detail in the coming chapters.
CHAPTER 14
WHAT AM I GIVING UP?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The thing that makes it difficult to quit is fear: the fear that we are being deprived of our pleasure or crutch; the fear that pleasant situations will never be quite as pleasant without the cigarette; the fear of being unable to cope with stressful situations.
The effect of the brainwashing is to delude us into believing that we are weak and fragile and that we need something to help us through the stresses and strains of life. We believe that stopping smoking will leave a void in our lives.
Get it clear in your mind: CIGARETTES DO NOT FILL A VOID. THEY CREATE ONE!
These bodies of ours are the most sophisticated machines on the planet. Whether you believe in a divine creator, a process of evolution and natural selection or a combination of both, it is safe to assume that if we were meant to smoke, we would have been provided with some sort of filter to screen out the hundreds of toxins contained in tobacco smoke.
In fact, our bodies are provided with foolproof systems to enable us to distinguish between food and poison. We don’t even need the health warnings on cigarette packs—our body instinctively knows it is being poisoned. When we smoke, our body sends us warning