You know, it’s good to stick close to a place like this even after we feel good about our quits and know in our hearts that we can make it our own. But the reality is that since we’re addicts it’s important to remember this even years after a quit because you never know when the old addict within might try to sneak up on us. Even years later powerful urges can come out of nowhere.
For most, it’s no big deal because we know how to control those urges but if we get one when we’re not expecting it perhaps during a stressful time or a life changing experience then we could be at risk. So to me it’s good to keep a quit close even years later so as not to be taken by surprise. And so it only makes sense that I keep coming here and sharing what I can while remembering that I too could be derailed though I don’t believe I will be.
But this is the benefit of a site like this one. You can take what you need from it and stay true to your path of freedom. There’s a kind of power that exists within a support web site. When a group of people unite in a common goal there can be nothing but positive results. To know that we’re not alone in our struggles can be a light that shines on the path to freedom. A light of knowledge and caring. A light of sharing both the good and the bad that must be endured.
So if your just starting out on your quest to freedom then you’ve found a place of wisdom and caring support. If you’ve been on the path for a while then by sharing your journey you light the path of another who might not be able to see it as clearly as others can because others can see your journey from the outside looking in.
But the reality is that we’re all here seeking one thing. A shot at a brighter future. A chance to feel a kind of freedom like no other. The thing is that no one here can do it for you. It’s a journey that must be started and completed by ourselves. It’s just the nature of addiction. Still, the path is only as hard as we make it. We have many tools to help us through the hardships that must be faced on this path. Some use those tools and others do not. Some need those tools and some don’t.
But what it takes to quit really isn’t something that can be given to you. No, it’s something that we find inside. It’s when the desire to be free outweighs the desire to smoke. It’s when we see a brighter future without cigarettes rather then wondering what the world will be like without them. It’s about when we realize that our health is more important then our ridiculous desire to smoke. It’s about when we lose our fear of quitting and about realizing that we’re not "losing an old friend".
So long as we understand that friends don’t try to kill you. Friends don’t try to enslave you. Friends don’t take away hours of your day simply to make that day worse in the end. We’re not losing a friend. No, we’re ridding ourselves of an enemy!
But once the path is clear where it really matters, in our hearts and souls. This is when we can really begin to walk that path. This is when the help here at EX is useful. You don’t have to do it alone but really, we do have to start the journey alone because until we have the resolve that can only come from inside of us. Until we have the belief that we really can do this. Until there is not even the slightest doubt of failure in our minds then we still have internal work to do.
So never give up. Never think that you can’t do it. Of course you can so long as your prepared inside for a fight. So long as you know you will win. So long as freedom matters more to you then a little bump in life then your going to make it and I can’t wait to see you on the other side, free of the shackles of your addiction!
