I remember when I put out my last cigarette. I thought there would be this ritual that I would go through to tell my old friend goodbye. But at the moment I put that cigarette out, I instead saw through the lies that my "old friend" had been telling me.
I realized at that very moment that this evil weed had a grip on me that was stronger then I could have ever imagined even though all of this was inside of me. I realized how my old friend had tied me to a long chain that I had to drag with me everywhere I went. I realized that my old friend was trying to kill me and that the death my old friend had chosen for me was not going to be pretty.
I realized that my old friend had been robbing me of life and breath for years while telling me the sweet lies that only an addiction can tell a person. And I realized that with every day that I smoked throughout my life that the addict within was becoming stronger and more confident in it’s ability to keep me enslaved forever.
I realized a reality that was almost laughable when I thought about it. My "old friend" in reality was nothing more then the soothing lies of an addiction.
When we really understand that we are indeed addicts, it takes away the ability of our own addictions to fool us. The sweet lies of the addict within change to the reality of what we are actually doing when we smoke. The addict within will always try to convince us that it’s O.K. to smoke. That it’s O.K. to care only about the present and never look to the future where the sad and lonely death that our addiction has chosen for us awaits. That it’s fine to continue feeding the body poisons because unlike other poisons, these poisons make you feel better.
The day that we realize that our internal addict is no friend of ours is the day that we take our first step toward freedom. It’s the day that we discover something about ourselves that we might never have realized. And that is that we actually do care about our futures. We actually do care about freedom. We actually do care about our health and how well we can breathe.
And at that time it’s like a shroud is lifted from our eyes for we no longer desire to feed our addiction. This in turn allows us to see our addiction at face value. It allows us to see through the shroud that we have placed over our minds in order to keep smoking. It allows us to see through the sweet lies of our addiction to the reality that exists if we don’t care enough about ourselves to defeat the enemy within.
And that’s when we see the ugly reality of smoking. That’s when we can see what we are really doing to ourselves every time we light another cigarette. That’s when we can take those first faltering steps toward our freedom and that’s when we know in our hearts that we will not be enslaved any longer. We will be free and nothing is more important then that!
So take a long hard look at that "old friend". Realize that this is no friend but rather an addiction that is lying to you. Realize that this friend should be kicked to the curb before he kills you. Understand that you are an addict and then use that knowledge to defeat the demon that drives you to continue smoking. Look past all the lies to the future that awaits you and remember that what you do today will determine the future that you will live tomorrow.
Let freedom reign and never listen to the sweet lies of your addictions again!!
