You smoke because you want to do so, right? It makes you feel good and you are totally convinced it is a positive addition to your life. What? That is not in fact true and you would rather find a way to stop smoking - if you just could? There are so many people who say exactly that, but why is it so difficult to quit?

There are many examples of where understanding the 'why' of something can help you in dealing with it. The reasons for continuing to smoke, against your own will, are many and complex, but can probably be narrowed down to just three or four major ones.

Firstly, there is no doubt at all that smoking cigarettes is a habit. In fact it is part of a little chain of habits which make a ritual. Where and how you carry cigarettes, what type of light you use, when and where you light-up etc. It is accepted that breaking habits can be very difficult, but sometimes all it takes is replacing one habit with another - preferably a less harmful one. I have known of some people being successful in replacing smoking with sucking sweets, such as mints. Should you achieve this and then decide you want to cut down or stop eating sweets, you will find them much easier to quit, because they do not have the effect mentioned in the next reason. They are not generally addictive!

Yes, one of the main reasons for being unable to 'kick' the smoking habit, is the fact that the nicotine contained in cigarettes is a powerfully addictive drug. When it is the physical or psychological addiction which is the problem, replacing cigarettes with a nicotine substitute, such as patches can be the answer. We know that many have tried this and failed, so it is not just addiction which is the problem.

I believe that one of the the most powerful motivations to continue smoking is fear. This can show itself in a number of forms; the primary one in young females can be the fear of getting fat. How many of them start - and then continue - to smoke cigrettes in the belief that it will reduce their appetite for food and help them to control their weight. This might actually be true in a small number of cases, but is disproved by the number of people who still smoke, yet far from controlling their weight, they get fatter and some even become obese.

Another way fear can motivate is when you feel that without cigarettes in a social situation, there would be nothing to do with your hands. That might appear trivial and irrational, but fears of problems in a social setting can be very powerful indeed. When it is a fear which is controlling your behavior, it is rarely something you are conscious of. In fact it can be very deeply ingrained inside, which is why it is necessary to come to terms with the 'why' of smoking, to help move forward and make the reasons for stopping smoking stronger still.

Those reasons for wanting to stop smoking can be as many and varied as there people, but once again can probably grouped into a small core number. The key is to find your own 'why' reasons and allow them to over-power the ones which keep you in the grip of a habit you would rather never have started.

Once you have started thinking hard about how you are going to move forward, you are in a much better position to get the information and help you are likely to need, to be successful in finding the best ways to stop smoking.