Melodeon,

I'm not an ex-smoker, but my professional field is in helping people curb their addictions.

Not a bad suggestion in the bunch! Try to find a number of people you know who are recovering smokers. You can talk to them if the desire to smoke gets strong. As several have already suggested, develop some alternative activities (licorice root, candied ginger, etc.) to take up some of the oral gratification that smoking has given you.

Start to develop a lifestyle that doesn't include cigarettes. Look at what activities lent themselves to smoking and find some new activities to take their place. As Banjer and Mike Brillo suggested, there are activities and people you need to avoid early on you eventually will be able to tolerate.

The nicotine substitute will give you a safety net to allow you time to develop the substitutes, the new people, and the new activities.

And.... if you should stumble and light one up, stop as soon as you can and talk to one of those ex-smokers you know. The average person tries quitting seven times before they are successful at giving up smoking. Success simply means getting up one more time than you fall down.

I should note that this does not constitute professional advice, I am just sharing my knowledge with you, a friend on the Mudcat.

Good luck and best wishes.

Roger in Baltimore