Hypnosis and Smoking

Every single time I've quit smoking, even when it lasted over six years, which I considered quite successful for me, rarely would a day go by that the craving didn't sneak in on me a time or two. It might be caused by stress or worry, excitement or boredom. Someone might yell at me and I'll feel the need. Something bad happens in the family or our country...

I'd heard on television that hypnosis can make all the difference in the world, as long as you really don't want to be a smoker. Hypnosis, of course, can't make you do anything you don't want to do. Therefore, they can't make you stop something you don't want to stop, like smoking. But I figured if I'm already not smoking, and I just want to make it easier to stay that way, this should be a great way to make the unconscious stop nagging me to fail. It's not the nicotine. It's not the habit. It's the emotional binding that's never been cut.

The clinic I went to has a 90% success rate, and that's with people who walk in the door still smoking. They're so sure they're going to change this habit for you that if you go back to smoking, they'll give you a second session free of charge. Well, I'm still not smoking, but it's no easier than it was the day I walked in there.

So what does that tell me? Other than I had a very bad day today and I feel like complaining to the world. I feel like failing. I feel like smoking. It's a good thing, right now, that I live way up here in the foothills where I'm a long way from a convenience store.

I'll admit one thing about hypnosis, though. Because of the expense (and don't ask—I'm not going to admit how much I spent) I'm too cheap to fail now. So maybe it'll work in a round-about fashion. Over-all, though? I'm not impressed. I was looking for a magic bullet to make me stop wanting. My will power is fine. It's the won't power that lets me down.