John has been a heavy smoker for over 20 years. However, he finally decided to quit. So he paid a visit to a doctor to get some advice.
The doctor told John he used to smoke too. "When I first tried quitting," he said, "I told myself that cigarettes are awful, harmful to my health, dangerous to my family and damaging to my job."
"After this fight in my mind, I quit for a while. But several days later I would wake up again and forget about my decision completely. 'Maybe smoking is not so terrible?' I would rationalize (作辩解). 'And what if I don't smoke around my family and go where nobody can see me?'"
He kept quitting and then starting again. His rationalization made him pick up cigarettes again and again. Finally, he decided to try a different strategy.
"I took a cigarette in my hand, looked at it and told myself: 'Yes, this cigarette will make me happy. I want to smoke it. But I will quit!'" the doctor said excitedly.
"This strategy worked, and I have not smoked a cigarette since. The reason I think I succeeded is that I didn't fool myself into trying to create a bad image of cigarettes. Instead, I agreed that I wanted it, but I chose to control my desires."
"So be honest with yourself," said the doctor. "Don't pretend (假装) you dislike playing computer games or eating fast food. Instead tell yourself that these things are all fine only if you can control your desire for them. Moderation (节制) is the key."
