Let’s be honest.

I was a smoker for more than 8 years and no amount of smokers diaries, first person narratives or how-to-guides could inspire me to want to quit. I saw every ad on the TV, I knew every fact about smoking and I still smoked. Why? Because when I was out and about with my friends on a sunny day, all reason just melted away. I can’t remember when I made the transition from casual social smoker to full time, 10-a-day-this-is-costing-me-a-fortune-smoker. I think that is the dangerous thing about smoking. One in the beer garden on a sunny day suddenly becomes one on a lunch break and then before you know it you’re lighting up every time you leave the house. I never paid much attention to the origin of my habit, so I never thought much about why I smoked. At first I liked it but by the time I didn’t like it, the best part of a decade later, I had developed the addiction and would have headaches if I didn’t have a cigarette. Everyone in my life told me to give up but the more they told me how disgusting it was the more I wanted to smoke. It was a weird stubborn reaction – when faced with scientific fact and evidence that smoking was bad, I would refer to my elderly nana who smoked Super Kings daily and lived into her 80s. I obviously, obviously, had genes that would make me immune to the effects of lighting up and inhaling tar, nicotine and tobacco. If we’re looking for a psychological reason for smoking it would have been this: I used smoking as a crutch. It was my get-out-of-an-awkward-situation-free card. When I was stressed in work I would smoke and blame the stress. When I was in a social situation I didn’t enjoy I would walk away and smoke. I was a reliable source of nicotine on a night out and a smoking buddy to all. Before long, I wasn’t just a smoker, I was the smoker that everyone knew. I wish I could say that the decision to quit came from a profound realization that I was more than capable of facing uncomfortable social situations without nicotine and that I learnt to easily manage my stress with breathing exercises. But I couldn’t. I decided to quit because I didn’t want to be a smoker. I didn’t want the lung problems, the shortness of breath, dizziness and heart problems. I didn’t want to potentially damage my chances of conceiving. I didn’t want to spend money on cigarettes. I didn’t want worse hangovers. I didn’t want smelly clothes. Yes, I wanted a cigarette, but I absolutely did not want the associated hassle anymore. I don’t have the easy solution to quit smoking. It’s the age-old thing – you have to want to quit. And if I do find myself wanting a cigarette, I just try to think of the things I don’t want more. By Cassie Delaney. If you are a smoker, chances are you want to quit because 70% of all smokers do. You may have tried before or you may be even a little worried that even though you want to, you can’t do it. However you are feeling about quitting, we are here to help. We’ve years of experience, helped thousands of people quit and our service is free of charge. Head over to www.QUIT.ie  and find out more about your Quit Journey or if you want to talk to an advisor about quitting or to find out about your nearest HSE stop smoking service call the HSE QUIT Team on 1800 201 203 or FREETEXT QUIT to 50100.