"Quit Smoking"

By Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

You know the truth about it; you want to quit smoking. Are you trapped in a seemingly endless loop of quitting “tomorrow?” Or do you know someone who is? If so you or your friend are addicted. But the solution I’ve created to quit smoking is so powerful (and free!) that you need not suffer another day. Based upon an abundant reservoir of natural medicine you’ve carried, under-utilized, in your body chemistry since childhood, humor is your key to a life free from cigarettes!

Have you ever heard the phrase "skeleton at the feast"? It refers to a somber element in an otherwise festive atmosphere and was popularized by the Greek historian Plutarch (46-120). Plutarch wrote of an unusual practice among the ancient Egyptians - during festive celebrations and feasts, the Egyptians would place a mummy at the table with the other guests. The skeleton at the feast was supposed to remind the guests of their own mortality.

I’ve noticed that many of my patients who smoke, deep down, consider themselves skeletons at the feast; by all indications, 7 out of every 10 smokers want to quit smoking - but can't. Actually trying to quit smoking may not be the real problem. As the old saying goes, it's easy to quit smoking - I've done it a hundred times! Does anyone doubt that nicotine is one of the most dangerously addictive drugs in the world ? We all know people addicted to smoking, people who are trapped on a deadly merry-go-round of promises that they'll quit "tomorrow."

There are hundreds of remedies for smoking addiction on the market, which should tell you right away that none offers universal success. The odds are stacked heavily against quitting successfully, and we know it. If you’re a smoker, it’s almost enough to make you give up before you start. But what if there existed a formula, based upon the strongest natural medicine known, that would help you quit smoking , stay quit, and not cost you a dime? Sounds too good to be true, right? Except this formula exists - I've taught it to my patients and I've used it myself.

This solution is so powerful and so cost effective because it's based upon a natural medicine you've carried around in your personal chemistry since birth. You once used this natural medicine, the medicine of humor, to summon incredible energy, astounding creativity, and supreme resilience - and you will soon use it this way again! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that maximizing the amazing, free natural medicine of humor will not only free you from your smoking habit, but empower you to solve an array of other medical and personal problems as well.

No other doctor in the world has the credentials I have to teach you about this particular application of the free natural medicine of humor. Having discovered its power twenty-five years ago while working with a terminally ill cancer patient, I have spent more than two decades researching, fine-tuning, and prescribing humor in an amazingly diverse array of personal and medical applications. You will soon discover that you can use the free natural medicine of humor to skyrocket your success in your relationships, your career, your stress management, your weight loss, your mental health, your fitness program, your parenting, your sexual health and more, because humor is powerful, abundant, free, and always accessible to you.

Over two decades ago, I began creating the Fun Commandments from my work with terminally and chronically ill patients. These patients taught and inspired me to use the incredibly powerful natural medicine of humor both in their treatment and also in my own life. As my patients' lives blossomed under this treatment plan, I realized that I actually needed humor's medicine as much, or more, than they did.

I had a great family, a wonderful home, lots of expensive "toys," and a bright career as a psychiatrist. But by the late 1970's I realized that I wasn't doing well at all. I had learned to be funny, but I didn't know how to have fun. I was experiencing pleasure, but I wasn't celebrating life. I was doing good things, but I wasn't free to enjoy my accomplishments.

Does this sound even remotely familiar to you? In contrast, I realized that many of my patients were doing fine compared to me. They were able to have fun even in the midst of the pain, uncertainty, and fear that accompanied their diagnoses. So, as they urged me to use the natural medicine of humor to change my own life, my patients also convinced me to write down my findings so they could be shared widely. The results of those initial writings were christened the Fun Commandments and served as the foundation for my Fun Factor prescription, a groundbreaking treatment approach which teaches you, step by step, how to employ the amazing power of humor to supercharge every area of your life.

After decades of research, I can teach you how to turn on humor's amazing power as easily as flicking on a light switch. From working as a performing comedian on the national Comedy Caravan tour to developing intimate, working relationships with great humor/practitioners like famous comedian Jerry Lewis, I have learned how you can infuse your personal and professional life with such an amazing level of resilience and energy that you will feel reborn - no matter how successful you are already!

1. Step One: Go the Extra Smile
   

   This Fun Commandment utilizes an amazing resource that is always available to you, is completely under your control, and is hardly ever inappropriate or unwelcome. Going the extra smile is my number one Commandment for having more fun, but it also provides your best escape from physical and psychological pain. Going the extra smile gives you a steady infusion of energy and vitality - which will be a vital aid in your efforts to quit smoking!

   Let's face it, by giving up smoking, you're kicking both a physical addiction and a psychological one. You need a physical and a psychological advantage to make this work and, fortunately, you have a built-in method for infusing yourself with all the energy and resilience you need. To continually energize yourself with strength and encouragement all you have to do is remember to smile - and then do it!

   Does this sound too simple? Let others scoff at the notion of a simple smile while you unleash your secret wealth of power upon your resolution to quit smoking. We have measured it - your mood is elevated, your pain lessens, your creativity is sparked, and your communication is enhanced even from a "fake" smile!

   Force a smile on your face, and you literally, change your psychology and your physiology. Will you still encounter difficulties on your journey to quit smoking even if you're smiling? Of course - and don't believe anyone who tells you they can be completely avoided! But your difficulties will be minimized by a genuine, sustainable, and renewable source completely under your control because you will draw power from your smile.

2. Step Two: Let Go Frequently
   

   This Fun Commandment allows you to stay serene, even when surrounded by distraction or temptation - the perfect tool for your quest to quit smoking. Frequently letting go keeps your eyes fixed firmly on your true objectives and keeps tantalizing urges from ruining your resolve.

   When you quit smoking you're kicking a physically and psychologically addictive drug so you'd better believe your urges to smoke will be strong. Smiling will certainly give you a mental and physical lift, but letting go will keep you from giving in to the urge to smoke "just one more." From moment to moment, by letting go frequently, you will soon find yourself able to quit smoking for longer and longer periods of time. Soon you'll be calling yourself a nonsmoker, with pride.

   Calling yourself a nonsmoker is, in fact, a big component of how letting go frequently will help you quit smoking. In meditation, the phrase "catch-and-release" refers to a wonderful technique for dealing with negative thoughts or emotions that arise. In "catch-and-release" methodology, the meditator holds the negative thought only long enough to acknowledge it, and then lets it go. This is the same way you will deal with your urges to smoke; you will simply acknowledge the urge to smoke and then let it go.

   You'll no doubt need to let go of the urge to smoke numerous times each minute when you first begin to quit smoking. Even though you'll be smiling, your urges will still be strong. You can validate your choice to quit smoking, however, by letting go frequently and saying to yourself, each time you do, "Just for this moment - I am a nonsmoker!" You'll soon find those moments have stacked into days and those days have turned into weeks without smoking.

3. Step Three: Celebrate Everything
   

   This Fun Commandment is all about gratitude, buoyancy, and joy. These qualities are essential to your daily, sometimes moment-by-moment, resolve to quit smoking. Celebrating everything provides the optimistic, glass-is-half-full outlook necessary to maintain the energy and momentum forged by your smiling and your letting go frequently.

   Given the choice between viewing the glass as half-empty versus half-full, why have we bought into the harmful and incorrect notion that mature adults "know better" than to be optimistic? Many of us even call optimists negative names like "naive." But how much greater are your odds to quit smoking if you give yourself permission to celebrate your victories?

   I know you've developed the "adult" habit of taking small miracles for granted - but taking them for granted doesn't stop them from being miracles! Recognizing a miracle and celebrating it (like not smoking for the past five minutes!) is a choice you can make and a habit you can foster right now! Doing so will increase your happiness and joy tenfold and supercharge your efforts to quit smoking.

   Use this Fun Commandment to create a reward system for each milestone you reach as you quit smoking. Use healthy, affirming rewards like time away from housework, a low-fat treat, seeing a good movie, going out for a nice meal, or visiting a friend to celebrate lengths of time you achieve without smoking. Be generous with yourself; give yourself permission to celebrate each moment you're a nonsmoker. After all, every minute you choose to quit smoking is a minute you're choosing a fuller life and why would you want to take that for granted?

   In fact, I'll go so far as to say that if you don't culminate your smiling and letting go with the Commandment of celebrating everything, your efforts to quit smoking will have a much lower chance of working. Choosing not to celebrate your everyday miracles (not only being a nonsmoker, but also being alive, breathing, having vision, etc.) stifles your humor nature and the amazing natural medicine of humor you have stored in your personal chemistry. On the other hand, if you are willing to invoke the natural medicine of humor by using my Fun Commandments as I'm prescribing, I guarantee that you will, moment by moment, be able to put off smoking.

But you won't need to stop there...the amazing natural medicine of humor will turbo-charge every aspect of your health, wellness, and personal success. You can, in fact, use the natural medicine of humor to shed almost any bad habit or foible which has haunted you. After you have quit smoking, you'll find yourself salivating with anticipation to use my Fun Factor prescription in every area of your life!

Start Using The Fun Factor to Quit Smoking...Right Now

Here are some simple, easy steps you can take immediately to turbo-charge your success and health.

1. Subscribe to my Fun Times newsletter. The Fun Times is all about using your natural power of humor to increase the quality of your life - including quitting smoking. The Fun Times is 100% free, and is delivered instantly, every week, to your email inbox. If you sign up now, I'll also throw in a copy of my "Stop Your Seriousness" Ecourse and my book, Ten Ways You Can Be Happier...Right Now! which will show you how you can use my Fun Factor prescription in your life!
2. Check out The Fun Factor. This prescription has changed so many lives for the better - it would be a shame if you passed it up. Check it out here if you're sick of smoking and want to finally quit smoking!

By the way, the term "skeleton at the feast" took on popularity after being used in Henry Longfellow's poem "The Old Clock on the Stairs."

In that mansion used to be
Free-hearted Hospitality;
His great fires up the chimney roared;
The stranger feasted at his board;
But like the skeleton at the feast,
The warning timepiece never ceased,
"Forever-never!
Never-forever!"

Do you really want to settle for being a skeleton at the feast? Use the natural medicine of humor to quit smoking and finally enjoy your life to the fullest. You’ll soon be using humor in all areas of your life, crafting attention and admiration from those around you.

Important Stuff That You Ought To Know All information on this site is copyrighted by Clifford Kuhn, M.D. and Laugh Doctor Enterprises. Nothing here may be used or reprinted without permission of Dr. Kuhn or Natural-Humor-Medicine.com. Natural-Humor-Medicine.com is an organization dedicated to teaching people about the natural medicine of humor. All revenues generated by this site are reinvested in growing the reach of the organization and educating the public about this powerful medicine.