By the end of his life my father had lost most of the things that had always formed his very happy personality. He could not tell a joke or sing a song. He could not be silly, jump about, or play with the grandchildren. In short he could not do anything except doze in a chair all day and sleep all night. He had all manner of ailments, not the least of which had been diabetes, so even the food he once loved was no longer his to enjoy.

So why do I mention all of this in a blog about helpful hints for quitting smoking? Well first I want to say that I consider this blog to be more of an inquiry about the subject of quitting, than a place that has all of the answers, and I am not an expert on quitting smoking.

No, I never claimed to be the world's foremost specialist on quitting smoking- if there is such a person. But I am pretty highly trained in why people do what they do, and how people can shift that. And I know a heck of a lot about addiction. And that is all very well and good, but neither I nor anyone else can quit smoking for you, no matter how much we know.

So as an inquiry, I mull over the fact that my dad had in some ways lost his heart and soul, and in fact his will to live. Now it is true that he struggled about leaving the rest of us behind. But in the final analysis, his will to be 'done with it all' won out.

And if one has a wish or desire to go, or if one is unfulfilled and not living a life that is happy- Or, worse yet, if one is living in some terminal upset or pain, then all of the trying to quit smoking in the world will not make a difference. There will be present a sort of desire to go that will thwart your every attempt to stay here on this earth. And we all know that smoking has a very real possibility of taking your life in the not too distant future.

Now I would be the last one to say that all people who smoke are fulfilling death wishes. Smoking is an addiction and it is pretty hard to conquer the physical and emotional cravings. However I do say that it is probable that my blog on helpful hints for quitting smoking will not be useful to those who are actually living lives of misery. There would almost have to be some latent, or blatant, desire to stop the pain, somehow.

And one could argue that to conquer an addiction- any addiction- the drive to live must be strong, huge, and urgent. So as you do your Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or whatever method you use to begin to quit, do not miss the opportunity to take a good look at your life. And shift your life if necessary into a space of happiness. Now I could certainly do a hundred articles on how to do that. But a good place to start is by looking at my other blogs. My dad, by the way, was a terminally happy person, and not a bad example to follow when he was in good health and fully functioning.