Making a Slip

You managed to stay of cigarettes for 3 weeks, but then it happens: you had a though day at work and you come home and your wife or girlfriend starts giving you a hard time. You're stressed and need to get out for a while, so you visit some friends. You're having a good time with your friends, had a few beers, when someone offers you a cigarette and you just can't say no. You made a slip, but does this make you a smoker again?

No! You are not a smoker again, you didn't fail, you just made a mistake by smoking one or a few cigarettes. You're not going to have severe withdrawal symptoms because you're not addicted to nicotine after 1 cigarette.

Does that mean you can smoke a cigarette every now and then?
No! If you smoke occasionally you keep the addiction alive. Also, 1 cigarette may seem harmless, but can lead to 1 packet a day again.

If you slip, don't say 'I failed by smoking a cigarette, now I might as well smoke the rest of the packet'. Thinking like this will make you a smoker again.

What happened was a trick of your addiction. Examine what the trigger was that got you into smoking this time and think about what you can do different next time.