Social Smoking – Who You Know Affects What You Do

Most of us did not pick up the smoking habit alone, we were either at a bar with some college friends, behind the bleachers at a high school football game, or hanging out with the gang after work or classes. If you did start smoking by yourself, you most likely witnessed a parent or grandparent smoking as an example.

“It’s the company you keep.” You’ve heard this a hundred times and it’s still true, the habits you create are developed, at least partially, by who you hang around with. So how do you quit smoking without ostracizing all of your smoking friends? The answer to this question is both easy and difficult. The simple answer is to stop hanging around your smoking friends. That works if you are not too emotionally involved in the relationship, but if your husband or wife smoke and they aren’t ready to quit, then this is not an option.

Because our surroundings trigger a “Pavlov’s Dog” reaction that complicates our stop smoking plan, it’s good to deliberately remove ourselves from the social smoking situations when we are able. When this is not possible, for example when you are sitting with your spouse after dinner and he or she lights up, you might try deliberately doing something else, such as taking a walk by yourself. Over time the sight of your spouse lighting up will no longer give you the urge to smoke, but to take a walk. Behavior modification is one of the best tools you can use to quit social smoking. Take each social situation that you are tempted to light up and create a new habit and soon you’ll find yourself free of social smoking for good.