I reasoned early on with my meditation that it'd be a useful tool to help me stop smoking cigarettes. I forced myself to meditate daily, to constantly remind myself to live in the moment, & I was eventually able to apply this to smoking. It was an incremental approach, to be sure, but I have little doubt that it helped. At first, I wouldn't think about smoking until after I had already lit up a cigarette, & then I'd feel guilty. I began by consciously pursuing these feelings when they occurred, by thinking things such as "Do you really think that smoking is something that a father should do?" Eventually, as I became more in the now, I'd catch myself craving a cigarette, & I'd explore those feelings & think things like "Are you really going to give in to a craving you ****ing pussy?" Sometimes I'd still smoke, but eventually, more often than not, I wouldn't. In Paris, it's difficult to find people that don't smoke, so when we'd have our weekly dinner party with friends, I'd use that as a challenge to watch others smoke, & to breath through the anxiety that it caused, reminding myself that these feelings would eventually pass. I was right--it did. I've applied this same strategy to several other areas of my life, with comparable results, including those that I've struggled with in the past (maintaining an exercise regimen, reading regularly, scheduling, spending quality time with my wife & child, anger, patience, etc.).
