Day 24 is here! What an exciting thing it is as we put one more day behind us and follow our path onward never doubting that this day would come. Never believing that we cannot succeed. There is so much resolve and belief in one another here at this web site. It’s a kind of power that can be felt when we come here and even when we’re out there in that big old world living the life of a reformed addict.
To me, "reformed addict" is indeed a beautiful word. By using this word, it reinforces the belief in ourselves and our quits while at the same time reminding us to be on our guards for that sneaky little child within that wants to cause us mischief every chance he can.
The one that reminds us of how it remembers life with cigarettes. The one that can pop up out of the blue. And if we’re not careful, the one who can derail our quits. It’s always important to remember that it’s there so as to lessen it’s ability to mess with us.
As recovering addicts, we fight our urges every day at first. At times we allow those urges to torment us and by doing this, we give those urges a power they don’t deserve when in reality it’s so easy to ignore them and reduce their power when we desire to do so.
If we can just see all the positives to what we’re doing then the negative just fades away. If we can look at how well we can now breathe rather then looking at how long it’s been since we’ve smoked, then we’ve found a positive. If we can look at how strong we really are when it comes to beating our addiction rather then at how hard it is to remain strong, then we’ve found a positive.
If we can wake up in the morning looking forward to a smoke free day rather then remembering how much we wanted that first cigarette of the day, then we’ve found a positive. And when we survive another urge while keeping our quits intact then not only have we found a positive, we’ve actually lived one!
And so I go into the new day positive that it will be smoke free. Positive that tomorrow will be smoke free. Positive that in time, this whole experience will be all but a memory. All it takes is a strong commitment, a belief in the positive, a belief in oneself and the passage of time.
And so I walk the path today thinking of all of you for when one sees fellow reformed addicts working together as we do, what could ever be more positive then that!
