上班族必備軟實力

[Richard is an expatriate in Taiwan and an on-again, off-again smoker.]

I quit smoking. I do it all the time. I should be very healthy for all the times I have quit smoking. I can almost feel my lungs repairing themselves.

                                                                         The Smoke Hole

There are many ways to quit smoking. It is not as easy as just saying to yourself that you will not smoke anymore. On the other hand, it is as easy as saying to yourself that you will not smoke anymore. It is one of those contradictions that makes human nature so complicated.

E-cigarettes are a relatively new phenomenon. They use an electric spark to vaporize a mixture of nicotine and water that you can then inhale. It supposedly is less toxic than cigarettes, and they can simulate the act of smoking, but there is still the aspect of addiction. You feel like you quit smoking, but you are as addicted as ever.

I have also tried the nicotine gum that you can buy over the counter in Taiwan. It didn’t help me quit and it gave me the hiccups. It tastes pretty bad as well.

I was taking Prozac as part of a weight loss plan, and found that it made quitting cigarettes easier. It also made me feel slow and unimaginative so that was not a good option either.

There are many other options that I have not tried, but I finally quit by going cold turkey. I went on a sightseeing tour in Japan for a week and it was easier for me not to smoke when being rushed around in a tour group. If I start smoking again, I can try hypnosis next. I’ve always wanted to get hypnotized.

There is no reason to smoke, but when I am smoking my mind will make up reasons to smoke. Cigarettes don’t do anything for me. I don’t feel any different now that I have quit than when I was smoking. Of course, I miss the after-dinner smoke. That is always a pleasure. I suppose just one little cigarette wouldn’t hurt--one a day, for each meal, that’s three. But that means I have to buy a whole pack and I might as well just smoke it or else my money would go to waste. I can always quit again later.

I hope that none of you have too many bad habits and can at least keep then under some kind of control. Please read my next column. It will be out in a few weeks.

【作者介紹】

Richard 是一位台灣女婿，在台灣生活15年，喜愛台灣文化，以風趣幽默的文筆，細膩獨特的觀點，介紹在台灣生活的趣事，一起跟著Richard探訪外國人的台灣世界吧！