Hello, all you fabulous quitters! Heeeere's Junkie Thinkin'...

Simply put, nicotine is a addictive drug...a drug harder to kick than heroin, according to the American Medical Association. I'm a recovering nicotine addict, my thought processes influenced by nicotine, as in Junkie Thinkin' (feel free to copy as an aid to your recovery from nicotine addiction):
JUNKIE THINKING: “One puff won’t hurt.” RESPONSE: “One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I’m not a social smoker. One puff and I’ll be smoking compulsively again.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I only want one.” RESPONSE: “I have never only wanted one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day, every day. I want them all.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I’ll just be a social smoker.” RESPONSE: “I’m a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one I’ll quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers can take or leave it. That’s not me.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I’m doing so well, one won’t hurt me now.” RESPONSE: “The only reason I’m doing so well is because I haven’t taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won’t be doing well anymore. I’ll be smoking again.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I’ll just stop again.” RESPONSE: “Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it took me to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I’m back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I’ll ever be able to stop again?”
JUNKIE THINKING: “If I slip, I’ll keep trying.” RESPONSE: “If I think I can get away with one little ‘slip’ now I’ll think I can get away with another little ‘slip’ later on.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I need one to get me through this withdrawal.” RESPONSE: “Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. It will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I’ll have to go through it all over again.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I miss smoking right now.” RESPONSE: “Of course I miss something I’ve been doing every day for most of my life. But do I miss the chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment? I’d rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to stop doing it.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I really need to smoke now, I’m so upset.” RESPONSE: “Smoking is not going to fix anything. I’ll still be upset, I’ll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it’s a want. Once the crisis is over, I’ll be relieved and grateful I’m still not smoking.”
JUNKIE THINKING: “I don’t care.” RESPONSE: “What is it exactly that I think that I don’t care about? Can I truthfully say I don’t care about chest pain? I don’t care about gagging in the morning? I don’t care about lung cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That’s why I stopped smoking in the first place.
JUNKIE THINKING: “What difference does it make, anyway?” RESPONSE: “It makes a difference in the way I breathe, the way my heart beats, the way I feel about myself. It makes a tremendous difference in every aspect of my physical and emotional health.”

OTHER JUNKIE THINKING: Why bother quitting? We all have to die sometime. I deserve to smoke. Cigarettes are all I've got left. They get to smoke. It would taste so good. They're smoking and it's not hurting them. Smoking wasn't really so bad. This won't count because____. I know I can't smoke just one, but I hope I can. I’ll do it fast before I think about it. If no one can see me it doesn’t count.
More Junkie Thinking! by mindy112, on 7/5/2003 (Found these on another Junkie Thinking thread...I think it was About.com):
JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm bored" RESPONSE: Smoking is an "activity" or "something to do" only for smokers. I'm really not "doing" anything when I smoke except still sitting/standing there. The rest of the world survives occasional boredom quite well without inhaling life-challenging chemicals.
JUNKIE THINKING: "But they've been smoking on TV and in the movies for years! There are even magazines devoted to tobacco products!”
RESPONSE: That's right. They were on TV for years, I wasn't. I'm still alive; many of them aren't and they departed this vale of tears in prolonged and painful ways. And the smiling faces in the magazines now are risking painful and disfiguring surgery later, at which point they won't be smiling at all.
JUNKIE THINKING: "Its so nice to go out for a 'breath of fresh air' and a cigarette." RESPONSE: Fresh air? I've got to be kidding. And face it, sunny days are one thing, but how many days do I huddle out in the rain with the rain hitting the cigarette and turning the cigarette paper that disgusting yellow color? How many times is it windy and it takes forever to keep a match or lighter lit long enough to light the cigarette, and then how often does a gust of wind come up and blow the ashes into my eyes? And when it’s icy outside, freezing my face off is bad enough, but when it defrosts, there's this bizarre yellow condensation around my nostrils. Now THAT'S attractive.
JUNKIE THINKING: "Smoking makes work go faster." RESPONSE: Most jobs where you work indoors are with companies who ban smoking in the workplace. Some companies won't hire me if I smoke. And every time I stop for a smoke it actually prolongs my work, since I'm not busy accomplishing it.

Reprinting Junkie Thinkin' is a selfish effort on my part, folks, it reminds me I'm addicted to nicotine. While there is no cure for nicotine addiction we can recover from it (& even though nic would like us to believe all addicts are doomed to lives of deprivation and boredom it's just another nic lie!!).

Staying nic-free is an ongoing process for me, absolutely contingent on doing Whatever It TakeS (WITS), Whatever Is Necessary (WIN). My day begins with a prayer of gratitude that I am still smoke free, followed by conscious reminders during the day of my smoking life pre 4/27/01, and why, since then, smoking is no longer an option for me.

We all pay our "nic dues" one way or the other, folks. If you're out there lurking trying to decide whether or not to quit smoking get yourself in here & share your journey to smokefreedom. If folks hadn't been supportive and encouraging I'd either be deathly ill today...or dead. Support and encouragement made all the difference.

There is no single "right" way to quit. Each person is different. A method that didn't work for you in the past just MIGHT this time. The point is, keep trying. You deserve a better life, a longer life. Remember...no one is a failure as long as we continue to try!!!!!! The failure comes when we stop trying.

Sending prayers, ~~~P.V.'s~~~ (Positive Vibes), and ((((hugs)))) to all who need 'em today. Alone *I* can't. Together WE can. Stick around this place and watch your miracle happen. (Thanks, Arleen.) To all new quitters: Keep up the good work, one day/hr/min/sec at a time!!

Post, don't puff--posting's saved many a quit--mine included.

--Still a Grateful Quitter--Mary Ann

"I'd rather be a quitter with an occasional urge to smoke than a smoker with the constant desire to quit." --Paraphrased from Junkie Thinkin'.
Smoked 44+yrs.; 7+yrs. smokefree by God's grace thru TLOS (The Land O'Smokeless, WebMD Smoking Cessation Message Board Support Group), one day/hr/min/sec at a time.

As of this date I am only aware of one possible source for Junkie Thinkin'..."Hooked But Not Helpless" by Patricia Allison and Jack Yost. If you use all or any part of Junkie Thinkin' please make proper attribution.