Are you a hide and sneak smoker? Are you hiding it from literally everyone? Maybe you are hiding it from your husband, wife, kids, mom, dad, family members, friends, church members, employers or co-workers, clients.
Last week I had a client who was hiding her smoking from everyone, including her husband. In the trunk of her car she had a bag with her smoking paraphernalia in it. It was a canvas bag inside of a plastic bag inside of another plastic bag. Inside the canvas bag were two smoking jackets, one was worn over the other. There was a knitted hat so she could put her hair up inside of it and a pair of gloves to keep the smell off of her hands. And, there was a pack of cigarettes and another pack in which she could put the butts. She said that all her husband had to do was to open the trunk of her car, smell it and she would be found out. Disaster!
She had to find places to hide to smoke. One such place was behind the local supermarket. On two separate occasions, someone must have been watching her get out of her car, go to her trunk, put on two jackets, a knitted hat, and a pair of gloves. They must have thought she was a terrorist or drug addict because the police quickly showed up. And as they searched her and her car, she pleaded, “Honest, officer, it’s only cigarettes!” Imagine how you would feel if that happened to you. She said they even ran her driver’s license!
When she was hiding out if she heard a car approaching, her heart would pound hard thinking she would be found out. She was always anxious that somebody would find out someday and that would get back to her family.
Even her dentist would ask, “Do you smoke?” and she would say “No, why?” Dentists know, even if you don’t confirm it. Smoking causes problems with the gums which can become at the least periodontal disease and at the worst cancer.
She was hiding it from everyone, her husband, kids, friends, mom, sister, and employer. Every once in a while someone would say “Why do you smell like cigarettes?”
She wept as she told me that she wanted to stop smoking so she would have “nothing to hide” from the people she loved most.
Imagine the torture it must be, always looking over your shoulder when purchasing cigarettes and finding places to hide. Always wondering when you will get the next opportunity, always having this “sneaking” on your mind. It becomes almost an obsession. It takes precedence over almost every aspect of your life. You will smoke in the pouring rain or the sweltering heat. You will go to the store after dark to make sure you have cigarettes for the next day. You will make excuses just to go somewhere, anywhere so you can sneak one.
It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s easy to quit with hypnosis. And what a relief it is when you no longer need to hide and sneak.