Wow! 260 days. What a surprise that is as always! It’s just amazing because it wasn’t that long ago when I was counting the days and then the weeks. It seemed like such a monumental task back then but I was determined. I wanted this quit and I was ready!
I think every phase of my quit helped me in the end. The preparations that seemed so scary because they kept in the forefront of my mind that I was really going to quit. The first hard days that in reality just proved to me how ready I was. Those first phantom urges that tried to surprise me by popping out of nowhere. Still, to no avail!
Those days of learning and realizing that for me, my very perception of the task would help me to complete it. My belief in myself and my reasons for wanting to quit. These things all helped because in the end the sad fact is that no one really wants to quit. We just know that we should. We know that what appears to be a pleasure to us is something that is killing us as well. Our good friend that we so carefully created with our own minds is one of the hardest things to repel for within the false mind of that "old friend" lies the root of what could derail our quits.
That "old friend" that I chose to name the "addict within" is indeed a powerful entity that lives within us. And this entity in reality is our biggest enemy because this is the part of our minds that must accept the fact that we no longer smoke. This is the part of the mind that chooses to make it hard for us. This is the part of our minds that is the face of our addictions. The part that tells us that in reality smoking is OK when we know it’s not. It’s the part of our minds that just doesn’t ever want to let go.
But we can retrain ourselves. We can take the power away from our personal addict simply by remembering that our addictions tell us lies. Deadly lies in fact.
So on those first hard days my advice would be to stare that addiction right in the face. See it for what it truly is, the ugly side of all of us. Learn all you can about how your addiction tries to rob you of what you truly want to achieve. How it lives for everything that we want to lose. How it fights us every step of the way as we try to do a positive thing for ourselves.
Always remember that only we ourselves can remove the shackles of addiction from our hearts, minds and souls. Only we can help ourselves to achieve the freedom that we want to feel so badly. Only we can find the answer to how to achieve it but most importantly, it is us who reaps the rewards of dealing with the discomfort that we must feel at first.
Though it may be hard right now, I as well as so many others here can tell you that it gets easier by degrees with every passing day that you achieve as a nonsmoker. Keep your resolve close to your heart. Don’t let life’s little problems derail your achievement for those problems will be there whether you smoke or not. Those feelings will be there whether you smoke or not.
So hang in there my friends. There is so much for you down the road. Always remember that the discomfort you feel now is the herald to a bright shiny future. A future of health, freedom and most of all, a future that brings you the satisfaction that yes, you really can take your life back once and for all!!
