Spiritual detriments of cigarettes and advice on quitting?

[John92]

(sorry if this isn't the right forum)

One of my "big sins" is gluttony, so I'm finally making a serious effort to deal with it.  In the realm of food . . . not too bad really.  1500 calories a day, three square meals, I'll feel kinda hungry for a few hours each day but it's really not that bad and the feeling that I get from knowing that I'm no longer eating like a pig is totally worth it (not to mention the spiritual benefits of conquering my passion for it).  Unfortunately I smoke cigarettes and since I cut back so much on my eating I've found myself smoking way more cigarettes.

I've been smoking since I was 14, then when my grandpa died at 15 my dad took up the habit again and started buying me packs/bumming me smokes.  It was so nice, we'd sit out on the porch all the time, we'd roll cigarettes a fair amount, I just really started to love the things and got addicted.  At this point it's like . . . some people use cigarettes to calm down when they're stressed but I normally use them rather as a "reward" when something good happens.  Finish outlining my term paper?  Cigarette.  Come to school and find out class is canceled?  Cigarette.  Finished a good chunk of reading?  Cigarette.  Memorized the principal parts for a good number of verbs?  Cigarette.

So what can I do to replace this "reward" thing?  What sort of healthy habit do you think I could pick up instead that would be relaxing as well?

Of course ultimately the trick to quitting is to . . . *quit*.  I think I can make it, the first three days are the hardest and after that it's mostly in your head.  I decided on November 24 as my date, it's the beginning of Advent and what with Advent being a penitential season I figure that'll help my motivation and be a good way to observe it.

Now spiritually I feel like cigarettes are hurting me too.  When I finally decided to stop snacking so much I felt like God was saying "You want to stop being a glutton?  Good!  It's about damn time!  Now put down those cigarettes!" - spent a few days kind of trying to cut back in a half-a**ed way and now I'm smoking like regular again (around a half-pack a day).  I can't "cut back", I need to just quit outright, if I try to cut back the temptation of having other packs around is too strong, but now I feel like I've damaged my relationship with God by putting off the challenge of quitting for a few weeks.  I just feel like . . . I'm praying and I don't "feel" like I do when I pray and am doing good.  Of course I should avoid spiritual gluttony, maybe God's just testing me.

Any advice??

[Herr_Mannelig]

While some would say there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the single act of smoking (including myself), I do think being a slave to the material world willingly is wrong.

I have seen several people quite smoking after a long time of addiction, and I have seen many people try. No method seems to matter that much, but the will of the quitter is the most important.

There are two aspects that I can see. The act of smoking, and the physical reaction to the addictive substances in the cigarette. Both should be replaced. Perhaps you could find a way to reduce the drug's withdrawal effects and find a way to replace to tact of smoking.

One Catholic way would be to pray instead of smoking. Pray for the soul in purgatory, the unborn, the Pope, etc. That may be beneficial.

[John92]

While some would say there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the single act of smoking (including myself), I do think being a slave to the material world willingly is wrong.

I have seen several people quite smoking after a long time of addiction, and I have seen many people try. No method seems to matter that much, but the will of the quitter is the most important.

There are two aspects that I can see. The act of smoking, and the physical reaction to the addictive substances in the cigarette. Both should be replaced. Perhaps you could find a way to reduce the drug's withdrawal effects and find a way to replace to tact of smoking.

One Catholic way would be to pray instead of smoking. Pray for the soul in purgatory, the unborn, the Pope, etc. That may be beneficial.

Yeah I'm with you on that.  I don't take a prudish attitude toward smoking and really think its dangers are somewhat exaggerated.  After I've gone a few months without smoking I'll probably go and have a cigar or pipe every week or two - those are pleasurable but much much less addicting (I've never craved pipes or cigars before, even when I smoked 'em often).  It's like comparing a shot of vodka to a beer: similar amounts of alcohol but one will just hit you harder.  With cigarettes you get a quick kick of nicotine that's hard to quit once you're used to it.

I'm definitely going to try to maintain 10 cigarettes a day max. until I quit.  Yesterday I started out the day planning on having only 7 (what with its being Friday and all) and ended up having 11 . . . what a way to express my appreciation for Christ's passion 

One thing that's helping my motivation is exercise.  I'll go on a good brisk walk for about two miles and at the end I'm coughing and spluttering like an old man, which is pretty disturbing considering I'm young and actually (despite being overweight) have (or used to have) pretty good stamina for hiking and walking, so that helps a lot because after the exercise I definitely don't feel like having a smoke.

Another thing that might help is with my Dad.  I live at home right now (going to college locally, love my family, etc.).  Me and him really bonded over smoking and tbh it really improved our relationship because it was something we'd do together, sitting outside and smoking and chatting, but now he has dangerously high blood-pressure and he really needs to quit so if I remind myself that, by quitting, I'm making it easier for him to quit, that might help.

I'm gonna try to not be too hard on myself the first three days (another reason I'm putting it off to the 24th is that by then all my term-papers and whatnot are done so I won't have to worry about nicotine withdrawal affecting my work), take it easy, take a nice bath in the afternoon, spoil myself a bit . . . it might be necessary just for those first few days just to ensure I don't go back to smoking.

[Herr_Mannelig]

Yeah I'm with you on that.  I don't take a prudish attitude toward smoking and really think its dangers are somewhat exaggerated.  After I've gone a few months without smoking I'll probably go and have a cigar or pipe every week or two - those are pleasurable but much much less addicting (I've never craved pipes or cigars before, even when I smoked 'em often).  It's like comparing a shot of vodka to a beer: similar amounts of alcohol but one will just hit you harder.  With cigarettes you get a quick kick of nicotine that's hard to quit once you're used to it.

I think the dangers are not exaggerated. It is quite deceptive. A single cigarette has a big impact on the body, but by itself, the effects are minor. The real dangers are with time: IN OMNIBUS OPERIBUS TUIS MEMORARE NOVISSIMA TUA ET

It chops away at the life, starting at the end. One rarely has a good idea of what is happening until the end is near.

The fact they are addictive by nature for most people makes them more useless.

I'm definitely going to try to maintain 10 cigarettes a day max. until I quit.  Yesterday I started out the day planning on having only 7 (what with its being Friday and all) and ended up having 11 . . . what a way to express my appreciation for Christ's passion 

Don't be too hard on yourself about that.

One thing that's helping my motivation is exercise.  I'll go on a good brisk walk for about two miles and at the end I'm coughing and spluttering like an old man, which is pretty disturbing considering I'm young and actually (despite being overweight) have (or used to have) pretty good stamina for hiking and walking, so that helps a lot because after the exercise I definitely don't feel like having a smoke.

Exercise is good. Perhaps you could explore that more. Exercise is rewarding in itself, healthy and is an actual deterrent to smoking (you don't want to smoke).

[John92]

Yeah I'm with you on that.  I don't take a prudish attitude toward smoking and really think its dangers are somewhat exaggerated.  After I've gone a few months without smoking I'll probably go and have a cigar or pipe every week or two - those are pleasurable but much much less addicting (I've never craved pipes or cigars before, even when I smoked 'em often).  It's like comparing a shot of vodka to a beer: similar amounts of alcohol but one will just hit you harder.  With cigarettes you get a quick kick of nicotine that's hard to quit once you're used to it.

I think the dangers are not exaggerated. It is quite deceptive. A single cigarette has a big impact on the body, but by itself, the effects are minor. The real dangers are with time: IN OMNIBUS OPERIBUS TUIS MEMORARE NOVISSIMA TUA ET

It chops away at the life, starting at the end. One rarely has a good idea of what is happening until the end is near.

The fact they are addictive by nature for most people makes them more useless.

I'm definitely going to try to maintain 10 cigarettes a day max. until I quit.  Yesterday I started out the day planning on having only 7 (what with its being Friday and all) and ended up having 11 . . . what a way to express my appreciation for Christ's passion 

Don't be too hard on yourself about that.

One thing that's helping my motivation is exercise.  I'll go on a good brisk walk for about two miles and at the end I'm coughing and spluttering like an old man, which is pretty disturbing considering I'm young and actually (despite being overweight) have (or used to have) pretty good stamina for hiking and walking, so that helps a lot because after the exercise I definitely don't feel like having a smoke.

Exercise is good. Perhaps you could explore that more. Exercise is rewarding in itself, healthy and is an actual deterrent to smoking (you don't want to smoke).

Thanks for the kind advice.  You're right about smoking being very bad for you.  Lung cancer is a CRAPPY way to go.  I just kinda don't like the whole "anti-smoker" sentiment that's popular right now, where people are very judgmental of smokers and whatnot.  If we cared half as much about contraception and abortion in this country as we do about smoking it'd be 10x better

One thing that's helping a lot with the food-gluttony thing is to ask that God make every grumble of my stomach a prayer for a lost soul - really makes me think twice about eating some Dorrito's!  So I can do the same thing with smoking - ask God that every temptation to smoke and irritable moment is a prayer for a lost soul.

I quit using drugs and those were 100x more enjoyable than cigarettes, so if I could get through that I know that, with God's grace, I can conquer these stupid cigarettes that don't even really make you feel anything!

[Herr_Mannelig]

Thanks for the kind advice.  You're right about smoking being very bad for you.  Lung cancer is a CRAPPY way to go.  I just kinda don't like the whole "anti-smoker" sentiment that's popular right now, where people are very judgmental of smokers and whatnot.  If we cared half as much about contraception and abortion in this country as we do about smoking it'd be 10x better

Well, people can be highly judgemental of anti-smokers too

Actually, lung cancer is not the real issue. The effects of smoking go beyond that. For example, my grandfather was a pipe smoker all his life (well, he was in his 80's, so the time was significant). He ended up quitting after a stroke. He could still walk, talk, drive, etc even after all this. However, after a few health problems, his lifetime of smoking did help end his life in a painful way. When the doctors tried to drain some fluids from his lungs (he had some sort of infection), his lungs were so weak that any attempt to help results in the tearing of his lungs. The doctors could do little except try to make him comfortable while he died, instead of operating and fixing the problem; like they'd do for anyone else. Smoking has influence on many bodily functions. While cancer may be "bad", there are more things lurking there. It effects your lungs, skin, brain, heart, nervous system, etc.

One thing that's helping a lot with the food-gluttony thing is to ask that God make every grumble of my stomach a prayer for a lost soul - really makes me think twice about eating some Dorrito's!  So I can do the same thing with smoking - ask God that every temptation to smoke and irritable moment is a prayer for a lost soul.

If you are hungry then you should probably eat. I have found that having fresh fruit around for times of hunger is great. They are healthy, tasty and cheap. Nothing like a pear

I quit using drugs and those were 100x more enjoyable than cigarettes, so if I could get through that I know that, with God's grace, I can conquer these stupid cigarettes that don't even really make you feel anything!

Keep praying and trying and everything will work out

[Sempiternam]

Hello John92 -- congratulations on moving towards becoming a non-smoker.  I smoked a pack a day for 20+ years.  I'm now finally free of the slavery of smoking and have a comment or two to encourage you.

I see you've set up a "rewards" system and are worried about what will replace it.  I hear that.  I don't buy it though.  That's your addiction speaking.  That's the addiction (i.e., your mind) trying to con you in to believing that smoking has tangible real benefits.  It doesn't.  As long as you believe smoking is some kind of reward, you'll continue to value it.  The trick to quitting is to see and believe that it has no value, no value at all.  I suggest to you that you don't need to replace your "reward" with anything.  You need to give up the idea of smoking as a reward.  It isn't.  It's a penalty.

Now everybody ticks in a different way, but the "trick" for me was very simple...It was to accept that smoking brings me nothing.  It doesn't satisfy an urge.  It creates the urge.  It doesn't relax me, in fact it's the source of a great amount of stress.  It really doesn't help me in any meaningful way.  It wasn't easy to come to that conclusion.  I had built up over 20 years of lies and deceits to justify my continuing to smoke.  But at the end of the day, the trick to quitting, at least for me, was to be honest about the true value of smoking and that is to admit that it has no real value.  And when I thought about it as objectively as I possibly could, I had to admit that I had given inordinate priority and power in my life to a stupid plant.  What's worse was that I believed that this stupid plant had great control over me.  Its ridiculous what I believed.  But, I wasn't alone.  Look at all the garbage that gets peddled to help you quit -- all of it upholds the notion that smoking is a great addiction that's almost impossible to beat.  It really isn't.  That's someone trying to sell you something.  But you've already bought the idea that smoking has power over you, so you're an easy target for all of the associated brainwashing.

After a few days of what amounts to nothing more than hunger pangs, once you put your addiction into the right perspective, you're body is basically free.  You, John92, have an advantage; you've already learned how to deal with a feeling of hunger.  Nicotine withdrawl is very very similar to feeling hungry.  As a smoker, you've just given that "hunger" pang an inordinate priority, a Pavlov response.  You've always fed that pang with a dose of nicotine, which guarantees you'll have the pang again.  But it's just a pang.  It really can be easy to quit.  And you don't need to jump onto the slippery slope of nicotine substitutes or chantix or whatever.  You just have to accept that smoking tobacco is like wearing tight shoes so that you can have the pleasure of removing them.   It is a waste on so many levels.  You don't need it.  And you can quit, if you wish.  And your idea of having a cigar or pipe somewhere down the line...this is you giving your power to a stupid plant.  Let it go.

Now, I'm going to get off of my soapbox.  Hope I didn't offend you.

I have a few more things to add though...

I really recommend a book.  Its called "The easy way to quit smoking".  There's some 14 chapters or so that are more or less summarized in the comments I've given above.  The whole she-bang is for you to acknowledge that you believe all kinds of foolishness about smoking, and for this reason, it has great power over you.  Yeah, that's it physically addictive is a component, but the greatest component of continuing to smoke is that you end up believing that it has some value, some merit, some worth, something that keeps you coming back, and that something is NOT the physical addiction, it's the psychological addiction.  Your job is to figure out the components of your psychological addiction and demystify them.  The physical addiction is trivial.  It's the psychological addiction that really has power.  That's why people who have quit for 1 or 5 or 10 or 20 years will slip back into it.  They miss it b/c they falsely believe it brings something of value.  It really doesn't.

I pray to God that I don't fall back into it.  But I also really don't think about it anymore.  Again, thank God.  By seeing smoking in this perspective (that it's all just brainwashing that's totally within my control), I was instantly freed and haven't looked back.  If you knew what a junkie I was, you'd know that's pretty amazing.

OK...final comment:

Quitting smoking has had great spiritual benefits for me.  On some level, during those 20+ years of smoking, I chose to put smoking before God.  I believed that smoking was something God would not want for me, yet I smoked.  And by smoking anyway, I was deciding to not really submit to His will.  I was holding back, my own pride, my own weakness, were ever before me when I smoked.  I always felt like a hypocrite when I claimed to be Christian and chose to smoke.  But once I quit, I turned to the Lord in a way I never had before.  And I believe, He turned to me once I demonstrated a willingness to really listen to Him.

Now, I cannot end this diatribe without acknowledging the instrumental role of Our Lady.  My last cigarette was on Feast of the Assumption.  During Mass on that Holy Day, I begged Mary to take the slavery of smoking away from me.  Like I said, I haven't looked back.  In fact, this writing to you is the most I've had to say on this topic since I myself quit.  In what you wrote, I heard a number of themes that I could identify with, and I am hopeful that my comments to you are an encouragement to emancipate yourself.

Anyway, I don't want to come on too strong with all my proclamations and decrees.  There are many folks who do not feel there's an incompatibility with smoking and fidelity to Our Lord. I'm not their judge.  It may not be an issue with them and that's fine by me.  I'm just sharing my own experience.  This was the box I had to put it in, in order to put it down.

Good luck.

[John92]

Good advice, thanks for that.

I'm not sure if I will or will not have a cigar now and again after I quit; I mean obviously I don't want to be an addict but I do enjoy the nicotine buzz and taste (obviously) so I'm thinkin' it might not be such a horrible thing to enjoy it once in a while with a form that isn't addictive for me . . . but that's not a sure thing, and even if I do decide to have a cigar now and again I sure as heck won't be so much as looking at 'em for at least the first three months or so.

[michael777]

Great comments Sempiternam.

To that I will add... As with most addictions to anything, if you give your attachment to something physical, you will much more easily be able to abstain from other things that are clearly sinful... much more easily.   All those things you keep going to confession over time and time again (not including your cigarettes), will suddenly vanish. 

Pax,
Michael. 

[Sempiternam]

I'm not sure if I will or will not have a cigar now and again after I quit; I mean obviously I don't want to be an addict but I do enjoy the nicotine buzz and taste (obviously) so I'm thinkin' it might not be such a horrible thing to enjoy it once in a while with a form that isn't addictive for me . . . but that's not a sure thing, and even if I do decide to have a cigar now and again I sure as heck won't be so much as looking at 'em for at least the first three months or so.

I tried to quit multiple times before I found what worked for me.  It probably goes without saying, but I've been in that boat where I had a cigar after a few months of not smoking, you know, when I felt I had it all beat.  Then another cigar, and another, and a few days later it was like I'd never quit.  Then I think it was probably 5 years before I even tried again.  Really, I'm just a barrel of monkeys, no? 

When you're ready to entertain it, I'd really recommend the book, "the easy way to quit smoking". 

[Sempiternam]

To that I will add... As with most addictions to anything, if you give (up?) your attachment to something physical, you will much more easily be able to abstain from other things that are clearly sinful... much more easily.   

Yeah...I agree.  I think of it in these terms...

In our indulgent culture we've become so accustomed to satisfying every desire, that we've lost sight of the fact that we actually can control ourselves.   

[michael777]

I started smoking again, about two years ago after listening to Father Ripperger's (FSSP- found on sensustraditionis.org) sermon on Alcohol and Cigarettes.  Father Ripperger gave me a bunch of reasons to start smoking again.  He listed all the apparent benefits of smoking and states that it is not sinful, so I decided to start smoking again cause Fr. Ripperger told me it was good for me, LOL!  Truthfully I only smoked maybe 3-5 cigarettes a day, but that was really stupid and irrational.  I do understand that the single act of smoking one cigarette is not objectively evil and not sinful.  However, the title of this post asks for "spiritual detriments of cigarettes and advice on quitting" so here it is... if you smoke on a frequent basis it  is irrational (read on to find why).

I read the book recommended by Sempiternam, "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking."  I consider it having some good points, but the book strongly frowns on the willpower method and the idea of having to sacrifice something.  Catholics should love the idea of sacrificing something (especially if it is an attachment) for the love of God. A good spiritual reason for giving up (sacrificing) cigarettes would be doing so in a spirit of Penance and love for God.

Moreover, objectively speaking, the costs of smoking outweigh the perceived benefits.  The objective costs being to our bodily health and the benefits received are purely psychological, which are perceived increases in:  relaxation, concentration, additional energy, something to relieve boredom, and etc.  The boost or benefit, just listed, that actually is received in each category is not that great from smoking.  For example, smoking a cigarette doesn't in reality increase your concentration by a significant amount more to justify the potential cost to your health.  In fact, as noted by the book "The Easy way to Stop Smoking," there is an objective decrease in concentration experienced overtime by smoking because of the constriction of blood vessels in the brain.  Less oxygen gets to the brain and people who smoke often have less levels of concentration than those who don't smoke.   More to the point, it is true that 1/4 of smokers will die directly related to one of the diseases triggered by smoking cigarettes.  If you continue to smoke for all your life, you have a 1/2 of chance of dying directly related to cigarettes.  Don't be deceived these are real facts due to smoking and the potential risks to your health are real, they are not exaggerated. 

November 18th (2009) was the Feast Day celebrating the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul; this is the day I extinguished my last and final cigarette.  We are all familiar with the NT idea of honoring your bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6: 19), in a sense our bodies are Basilicas of God; our bodies are gifts we should use and care for wisely.  Imagine, someone coming in and lighting a fuse (of indeterminate length) to a bomb inside St. Peter's (the Vatican).  This guy walks off really happily (in fact he is skipping in relaxation) because he lit the fuse and realizes it could go off sometime before he comes back to step on the fuse.  The whole time he realizes it could possibly go off before he steps the fuse out, but he likes the excitement.  In a sense lighting those cigarettes is lighting a fuse to a bomb that could destroy our bodies at any time.  We have a 1/4 chance of dying from smoking cigarettes.  This objectively speaking is an irrational act considering the benefits of smoking is exaggerated and purely psychological.

[John92]

I started smoking again, about two years ago after listening to Father Ripperger's (FSSP- found on sensustraditionis.org) sermon on Alcohol and Cigarettes.  Father Ripperger gave me a bunch of reasons to start smoking again.  He listed all the apparent benefits of smoking and states that it is not sinful, so I decided to start smoking again cause Fr. Ripperger told me it was good for me, LOL!  Truthfully I only smoked maybe 3-5 cigarettes a day, but that was really stupid and irrational.  I do understand that the single act of smoking one cigarette is not objectively evil and not sinful.  However, the title of this post asks for "spiritual detriments of cigarettes and advice on quitting" so here it is... if you smoke on a frequent basis it  is irrational (read on to find why).

I read the book recommended by Sempiternam, "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking."  I consider it having some good points, but the book strongly frowns on the willpower method and the idea of having to sacrifice something.  Catholics should love the idea of sacrificing something (especially if it is an attachment) for the love of God. A good spiritual reason for giving up (sacrificing) cigarettes would be doing so in a spirit of Penance and love for God.

Moreover, objectively speaking, the costs of smoking outweigh the perceived benefits.  The objective costs being to our bodily health and the benefits received are purely psychological, which are perceived increases in:  relaxation, concentration, additional energy, something to relieve boredom, and etc.  The boost or benefit, just listed, that actually is received in each category is not that great from smoking.  For example, smoking a cigarette doesn't in reality increase your concentration by a significant amount more to justify the potential cost to your health.  In fact, as noted by the book "The Easy way to Stop Smoking," there is an objective decrease in concentration experienced overtime by smoking because of the constriction of blood vessels in the brain.  Less oxygen gets to the brain and people who smoke often have less levels of concentration than those who don't smoke.   More to the point, it is true that 1/4 of smokers will die directly related to one of the diseases triggered by smoking cigarettes.  If you continue to smoke for all your life, you have a 1/2 of chance of dying directly related to cigarettes.  Don't be deceived these are real facts due to smoking and the potential risks to your health are real, they are not exaggerated. 

November 18th (2009) was the Feast Day celebrating the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul; this is the day I extinguished my last and final cigarette.  We are all familiar with the NT idea of honoring your bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6: 19), in a sense our bodies are Basilicas of God; our bodies are gifts we should use and care for wisely.  Imagine, someone coming in and lighting a fuse (of indeterminate length) to a bomb inside St. Peter's (the Vatican).  This guy walks off really happily (in fact he is skipping in relaxation) because he lit the fuse and realizes it could go off sometime before he comes back to step on the fuse.  The whole time he realizes it could possibly go off before he steps the fuse out, but he likes the excitement.  In a sense lighting those cigarettes is lighting a fuse to a bomb that could destroy our bodies at any time.  We have a 1/4 chance of dying from smoking cigarettes.  This objectively speaking is an irrational act considering the benefits of smoking is exaggerated and purely psychological.

Yeah, it's definitely a great idea to attach your quit-date to some religious feast-day or season that will motivate you.  +1 re: "we enjoy smoking but that should just increase our motivation to quit - it makes the penance more worthy"

[donmar35]

It sounds like you are describing me. I actually quit for 2 and a half months this summer. Then some stress occurred and I lost it. I also use it as a reward when something good has happened. A priest I confessed to actually told me that it was a mortal sin, akin to destroying your body. So I almost never went to communion. Besides that I had the same feeling that you did spiritually; that my prayer life just wasn't quite right.

It seems that my two biggest downfalls are the gluttony that you refer to, and lust.

I have no advise, but was just thinking that Advent starts this Sunday. I'll dust myself off and start again. Please let's keep each other in prayer over this.

Thanks

[Petertherock]

I also struggle big time with gluttony. It's particularly bad for me since I am diabetic. The worst time is when I come home after work at midnight. I am also hungry and instead of just having a light snack I binge on everything I can find. I always tell myself "I have to stop doing this" and then the next night it's the same thing. I just don't know if I can help myself. Of course the depression and job situation I am in isn't helping me any either.