What If Your Partner Smokes?
June 16th, 2009 | Published in How I Kicked The Habit
What do you do if your partner smokes? Let me allay any fears that you may have.
The ideal situation would be for them to try to stop at the same time. Not because it can help give you both combined greater willpower but because you can reassure yourselves that you are thinking and acting logically about addiction and quitting.
At the very least, I would expect your partner to be a little thoughtful. But remember that they are the addicted and the addicted will do almost anything to convert people back to being smokers. Be prepared to be firm with them if they offer you a cigarette. Because you won’t be using willpower, then you won’t be swayed but it’s still not helpful and is thoughtless behaviour, the behaviour of an addict.
Ultimately though, you will be quitting without the use of willpower, and it won’t make a difference if you live with other smokers.
Let me give you an example. When I quit smoking and had my last cigarette, I lived in a house with 2 other smokers and a smoking friend who regularly dropped by. I can categorically tell you that it made zero difference to my quitting that I was in a smoking atmosphere.
Or to put it another way, remember when you were a non-smoker, before you were curious about cigarettes, did you ever feel that you needed willpower to resist smoking? Of course not! You were not addicted!
So when you stop smoking with this method, even if you live in a house with other smokers or all your friends smoke, it won’t make a difference to your success.
