Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking

by Allen Carr

You know that feeling when a neighbor’s burglar alarm has been ringing all day, or there has been some other minor, persistent aggravation? The noise suddenly stops and we experience a wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility. Actually, this peace is something of an illusion. All that has really happened is that the aggravation has disappeared and everything has returned to normal. What we are really enjoying is not the feeling of normality, but the ending of the aggravation. Before we start smoking, our bodies and our lives are complete. We then force nicotine into our body by smoking our first cigarette. When we put that first cigarette out, the nicotine begins to leaves the body and is replaced by that barely noticeable feeling of a slight emptiness, a bit like hunger. This is nicotine withdrawal—my metaphorical ‘little monster’. If we smoke again, the nicotine is replaced, the slight emptiness disappears and is replaced by a feeling of relaxation, satisfaction and confidence (i.e. a feeling of normality). But the nicotine from the second cigarette also leaves the body, so the empty feeling returns. So we need to light another cigarette to remove that feeling and once again feel normal. And so the smoker’s cycle of withdrawal and replenishment begins. It’s a lifelong chain of attempts to relieve the slight aggravation caused by withdrawal and to once again feel normal. The whole business of smoking is like forcing yourself to wear tight shoes just to get the pleasure ...