The DU Lounge

I smoked menthol cigarettes, Kools and Marlboro Menthols, for 24 years, a pack and a half to two packs a day, from age 16 to age 40. I tried numerous times to quit, with "successes" ranging from 22 days to 49 days to 63 days. But what always happened to foil me was that inevitable absolutely overpowering craving. I'm talking about a desire for a cigarette that was so intense, so overwhelming, that no mere mortal human being could possibly resist it. That overpowering craving always came, sooner or later, and when it did, I didn't give a shit about anything else but a cigarette.

And then, on March 23, 1990 (yes, I still remember that date vividly), there was a traveling stop-smoking-by-hypnosis troupe that came through here (Columbia, Missouri) from somewhere in Indiana. I drove through a blizzard, almost white-out conditions, to one of those big hotels near the Columbia Mall. It was a seminar-type meeting in one of that hotel's seminar rooms. Despite the weather, there were perhaps 15 or 20 people there.

The man who was conducting the seminar said that in three and a half hours, "you will walk out of here and never smoke again." I raised my hand and said, "That's not what I want. I don't want to walk out of here in three and a half hours and never smoke again. What I want is to walk out of here in three and a half hours and never WANT to smoke again." I was thinking about that inevitable impossible-to-resist craving. A couple of the other people there said, "Yeah!"

The man said that he couldn't promise that we would never WANT to smoke again, but that he would give us ways of coping with those cravings. But big surprise, I actually DID never want to smoke again. That absolutely irresistible craving never came, and in fact, I never even had any small cravings. I don't know how to explain it or describe it; I just simply never wanted to smoke again.

Yes, the man did hypnotize us, but I thought I remembered everything that happened during those three and a half hours. Maybe I did and maybe I didn't, but whatever, it worked.

I was 40 then, I'm 75 now, and if I hadn't quit then, I firmly believe I would be dead by now. Probably would have been for some time.

I know from personal experience how hard it is to quit those things, Deb. I'm sending healing vibes your way.

-- Ron