Scrump - I totally agree with you. My ex and I decided to give up shortly before Christmas so sat down and worked out how to do it. We were going to his ex's house for Boxing Day and we knew that they were smokers. We chose December 27 as the day we would start stopping (?) and got the chewing gum that we had decided would give us the best chance of succeeding.

I smoked my last cigarette on Jan 1 1983. We had a few days off work to avoid being where other smokers were, just to avoid the temptation. For me, the withdrawal symptoms of those first few days were a powerful incentive not to start again. It was definitely worth the discomfort of that time for the benefits afterward.