RebeccaFinneyAuthor

Jane, something Minnie said here really stood out to me — the difference between white-knuckling it and reaching a point where not smoking actually feels like your own choice. I wonder if that's one of the reasons quitting can feel so exhausting when we're constantly thinking, “I can't have a cigarette.” The cigarette is still occupying the centre of our attention, even while we're trying not to smoke it. I've become really interested in looking slightly earlier than the craving itself. When the thought “I want a cigarette” appears, what was happening immediately before it? What feeling, thought or situation did your mind interpret as requiring a cigarette? It seems like a tiny distinction, but I think there's a big difference between continually fighting the answer and beginning to notice how the cigarette became the answer in the first place. Wishing you well with the new quit, Jane.

Not when did you smoke it — when did the wanting actually begin? I've been looking at what happens before we normally call something a craving. A feeling, a thought, stress, boredom, coffee, finishing a meal — and then, somewhere in that sequence, the cigarette becomes the answer. I made a very short video around one question: When did you decide to WANT your last cigarette? I'd genuinely be interested to know whether you can identify what happened immediately before the wanting appeared.