Quitting Smoking is Easy Peasy

So says the author of the book I'm reading. For the second time. After the first time, several weeks ago, I managed to quit for about 18 hours, 10 or so of which were waking ones.

The author proclaims that smoking is not a habit, is not continued for want of willpower, nor for want of information about the health and monetary risks associated with smoking. Says it's an addiction coupled with brainwashing. Also says the dreaded "withdrawal pangs" that (supposedly) accompany a quit attempt are a paper tiger. They are predominantly mental, and barely noticeable by the physical body.

Hmm...

Early on, the author informed me that the big reason I haven't yet quit smoking is (drum roll, please)...FEAR.

Ouch.

The man is pushing my hot buttons.

The fact that he has the audacity to proclaim that quitting smoking is easy is what hooked me into buying the book in the first place. I'll admit, I'm always looking for the easy way out. But honestly--who seriously believes quitting smoking is EASY?

Consider: The author was a five-pack-a-day smoker before he quit. That's one hundred cigarettes per day. Next to him, I'm a rank amateur. His credentials are impossible to ignore.

Consider: His worldwide clinics have a success rate of over 90%. He advocates no nicotine gum, no Chantix--NONE of the established methods that are so widely proclaimed.

To be continued...

THE EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING, by Allen Carr.