Props to you Voymom...I don't smoke but my parents did, step-parents did...and my mom is 3 weeks smoke free after 50 years. I have been hounding her for as long as I can remember, I grew up in second-hand smoke for almost 20 years and it really goes back to when they were popular and there was no real warnings....hard to convince someone that it's bad after all that time and get them to quit.
Since I don't smoke, I cannot relate to the difficulties of quitting, only provide support to when you and whomever does finally give them up. I agree it's a mental game but the addiction apparently is ridiculously strong so best of luck to you. Not sure what the doc told my mom but I made sure I called when she went in for her stomach pains and told them her diet and how much she smokes..only to aid in their diagnosis. She's a tough cookie and stubborn as an ox in concrete shoes, but since it really boils down to your health and well-being, I have no problems laying it out on the line for her. Granted I may be out of place at times but I don't really hold back and some tidbits of info are good to have circiling around in the back of your mind, I don't really go for the "Politically Correct" especially when your well-being is at stake.
Put a pic of your kids, or grandkids, on your smokes and be sure to look at them when you reach for the pack, think about how much of a pain it will be to haul around an oxygen tank....that's what I told her anyway. She was on the patch when she was in the hospital, on a prescription dose for the first week, then a reduced dose the second week. Now she's off the patch and doing much better, she talks on the phone without coughing up a lung. My best-friends G-ma died of emphysema and I saw it first hand when I was a teenager, left a mental scar and I will do everything in my power to keep my kids off the tobaccy and support anyone who attempts to quit.
Keep up the hard work....it only gets better each day.