Good morning all,
I hope today is a day filled with life rather then a day filled with smoke. You know, at times it's so easy to forget those first hard days of our quits. In a way this is a good thing because it shows that we've moved on and yet, it's so important to remember not just the good parts but also the hard parts as we progress.
This in a way helps to strengthen even a long term quit. By remembering those first days, we understand even more why we don't want to go through those first hard days again. But what about a relapse? What happens then? The hard days are still ever present in our minds and this in itself can bring us to a kind of crossroad with the fear of quitting on one side and the longing for freedom on the other.
I think anyone that slips feels really bad about it. It feels like failure the moment we light that cigarette. But the reality is, it's not the end of the world. So long as we find the courage and strength to look to the top of Mt. Freedom not with the thought of how far it is to the top but rather with the knowledge that we will one day get there then we still haven't failed.
The only true failure is giving up completely. We must stand up, dust ourselves off and once again take that first step on the path to freedom. We must lose the fear that the addict within continues to feed us and we must also never listen to it's sweet lies that if stripped to reality only means sadness and death.
Each day that we thumb our noses at the addict within is a day of progress. Each day that we understand that the addiction will not win is yet another day to build upon. The real war isn't so much the physical side of the addiction. No, that part most of us make it through. The hard part comes when the internal arguments begin.
We know that smoking does nothing good for us and yet we can't seem to get it out of our minds. It's a seemingly endless war and if we allow ourselves to dwell on that then it fuels the addiction even more. As soon as those thoughts begin to appear we must find something else to think about. Anything else because if we continue to dwell on those memories then soon we have a day that feels like one long endless crave.
So never give up on yourself or on your ability to quit. It's within all of us to succeed. So long as we never give up or never give in then one day we can stand together on the summit of Mt. Freedom and cheer everyone else on and throw ropes down to those who are still wandering the path.
I can't wait to see you there!!
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
