Every time I tried to kick the habit it was like I was giving up a part of myself,and this more than any addiction to nicotine, contributed to the immense struggle that took place when I was trying to stop.

When I found the E Cigarette I had just come through another failed attempt to stop smoking and although I was still at the point where I really wanted to kick the habit I didn’t think I had the energy to give it another shot. E cigarettes allowed me to stop inhaling the poisonous fumes from cigarettes without making any effort. I could continue to get a fix of nicotine and the e cigarette seemed like a genuine substitute for my smoky friend, allowing to quit in my own time without having to worry about health consequences. This gradual experience allowed me to readjust my self-image in such a way that I could stop when the transformation was complete without the dread I normally associated with giving up.

For me, the mind is the battleground where your fight against nicotine really takes place, the physical addiction is really a secondary consideration. On the one hand we hate the fact that our habit is shortening our life and on the other we are experts at putting all the health worries associated with our habit to the back of our minds. We foolishly convince ourselves that either, “It’ll never happen to me”, or that we will give up smoking at some point in the future before the health problems start to manifest themselves. As long as we don’t have to confront the nicotine monster until tomorrow, life is good.

I’m still struggling with these issues if truth be told. However, slowly but surely I’m coming to terms with the fact that I won’t be a smoker forever, and being a non-smoker isn’t going to result in some bizarre mutation of my personality. I’ll still be the same person. My fiends will still see me as the same person. The transformation from one person to another is only happening in my head.

This one was posted back in May over at techradar.com