Smokers’ corner

As the smoking challenge comes to an end, things are running smoothly, but the thoughts of cigarettes are still hanging over me like a massive shadow.

My final plea in these articles, to ex-smokers everywhere: How do you keep the cravings away, forever?

This is mainly because of the host of conversations I’ve had with former smokers since the challenge began a couple of months ago. The common theme is that those who are no longer smoking and haven’t smoked in a long time, still crave cigarettes and those that start smoking again had gone a considerable period without cigarette before getting cravings out of the blue and randomly smoking again.

For example, when Mark and I started this challenge, we were told by someone that they had gone nearly a year without a cigarette and were feeling miles better. However, now a few months, later they are a fully fledged smoker again.

This has been the case of a few people who have all warned me not to get too smug about quitting because just when you think you’re over it, you see someone smoking or smell it and the cravings all come rushing back.

This makes me wonder if a person ever actually quits smoking officially at all. With not having quit long enough to know if the things I have heard are true, I am now living in fear that as long as I continue to not smoke, the cravings are going to continue to follow me everywhere I go - like one of those gremlins from the illiteracy adverts that were on TV a few years ago.

So my final plea in these articles, to ex-smokers everywhere: How do you keep the cravings away, forever?