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That is why people who use will-power alone
to stop find it so HARD.
They try to stop smoking, but because
they still genuinely believe that smoking is enjoyable and in some strange
way essential to their happiness, they feel they
are making a sacrifice. They feel they are depriving themselves
of this 'pleasure'.
Although this is an illusion, it is a
powerful illusion and it is why people who use willpower alone sooner or
later find themselves back smoking.
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Remember our past example.
It could be at a party or at a bad
moment during the day or during a particular stressful occasion.
And
because they still believe the old lie that smoking can magically
produce pleasurable feelings in them, after a little battle |
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(their
desire to feel better always overcomes the desire not to smoke) they
succumb to the old addiction..........and it takes only ONE CIGARETTE to start the whole chain off
again. |
Some students, at this stage still believe
that this is not an extremely important part of the course.
"OK", they
reason ,"it may play a part but still the main thing is to stop and to do
everything in my will to stop."
Although it is important that we want to
stop smoking and we use our self-discipline not to smoke another
cigarette when we finally decide to stop, it is vitally important
that you understand this part of the course.
THE POWER OF A
PLACEBO
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Most of you
are probably aware of the placebo effect in medical science.
People
who are told a drug will have a certain effect on them will, in most
cases experience that effect even if they are given a pill with no
active properties.
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Again most of us will find this hard to believe -
yet it is a recognized scientific reality in modern
medicine. |
Again, most of us will find this hard to
believe - yet it is a recognized scientific reality in modern
medicine.
Norman Cousins, the famous American
researcher has even gone as far as to say: 'Drugs are not always
necessary. Belief in recovery is."
Listen to what Dr. Andrew Weil, who has
conducted a number of important studies in this field has concluded:
"The
experience of drug users correspond almost exactly to their expectations.
You can lead a person given a dose of amphetamine to feel sedated or a
person given a barbiturate to feel stimulated. The 'magic' of drugs
resides within the mind of the user, not in the drugs."
In other words, the power lies not alone in
the drug but to a large extent in what the person really believes the drug
will do for him.
In essence, if you genuinely believe that
giving up smoking can be easy and you can do it - you will.
Likewise, if you listen to society's
out-of-date and ill-informed opinion about smoking and genuinely believe
that it will be extremely difficult and tedious -then you will make things
difficult for yourself.
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