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You are giving up a habit that is really bad for you. We cannot stress this fact enough, and you know it well yourself.
Nevertheless, smoking induces a rewarding feeling.
When we give up smoking we have to give up the rewards of smoking, there’s no other way.
Please invest a moment to understand why smoking is enjoyable and rewarding.
Nicotine binds to nicotinic receptors in the brain, of which there are several subtypes. This nicotine binding facilitates the release of a number of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, serotonin, glutamate and beta-endorphin. Neurotransmitters are hormones that deliver messages in the brain in an electric-chemical fashion, and this massive domino effect of communication yields the following results:
Nicotine affects mood – producing pleasure, arousal, and the relief of anxiety.
Nicotine affects performance – enhancing vigilance and improving the execution of repetitive tasks.
Nicotine also reduces hunger and speeds up body metabolism, resulting in body weight reduction.
These are facts. Nicotine does have a beneficial and rewarding effect and you need to sacrifice it, there’s no other choice.
You have to acknowledge that these benefits are related to addictive drug use. You may consider that heroin also has some beneficial affects, and it certainly is another rewarding drug, but the main difference between heroin and nicotine is that the latter is legal.
Please take another moment to understand how smoking creates addiction.
Repetitive exposure to nicotine alters the function of a brain faculty called the cholinergic system. Once nicotine is introduced into the system, the body reacts with hyperactivity of the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. This hyperactivity is balanced as long as the level of nicotine is maintained. But once the nicotine levels in the body fall, withdrawal symptoms emerge – including irritability, restlessness, drowsiness, difficulty in concentrating, impaired task performance, anxiety, hunger, weight gain, sleep disturbance and craving for cigarettes.
You are a smoker because your addiction is maintained both by seeking the pleasures and gains of smoking, as well as avoiding the pains and agony of the withdrawal effects of nicotine.
Consider that your pleasure and gains from nicotine are drug-induced and short-term. In the long run nicotine breeds disease and premature death.
Consider also that the pains of withdrawal will not last for long and they will be replaced by a much better quality of life.
You give up certain rewards by quitting smoking, there’s no other way. However, you should reward yourself for doing the right thing. Compensate yourself, reward yourself. You don’t have to wait until you have completed the program, reward yourself along the way.
Give yourself a reward as you pass each stage and complete each Session. And upon completion of the program, give yourself a really big one.
You deserve it! | 
