This morning, I started weaker in will than I had hoped. I had three or four cigarettes right after waking up, but instead of beating myself up over it, I took a different approach. After my shower, I decided to space them out to 45 minutes apart, then gradually extended it to an hour and fifteen minutes before going to bed tonight. As the night goes on, I’ll stretch it to an hour between smokes, just in case I have trouble sleeping.
This slow, intentional spacing has already taken me from three packs a day down to just one in only a few days. More importantly, it’s training my willpower in a way that rewards me instead of punishing me for slip-ups. This method feels far better than going cold turkey because it reinforces the idea that one cigarette is just a setback—not a total relapse. Instead of throwing in the towel after a single misstep, I can acknowledge it, reset, and keep moving forward on my non-smoker’s journey.
Cold turkey might be the most common way to quit, but we rarely hear about the failures—only the success stories. And those dramatic tales of people quitting overnight after a “spiritual awakening” always sound a bit absurd to me. I have no idea how to force such an epiphany, so I’ll stick with what’s working: gradual progress, one stretched-out cigarette at a time.
I’m looking forward to my next class session this Tuesday, where I hope to be completely cigarette-free, using only the nicotine patches when I need them. And when I finally set up my table at WonderCon 2025, the Anaheim Comic-Con Convention at the end of March this year, I want to be free of smoking altogether—just like I promised my patron who’s been supporting me.
One cigarette might be a setback, but it’s not the end of the road. I’m still moving forward, and that’s what counts.
By Dan and Bonkers
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