So often in life, it's the little things that can mean so much. The simple kiss of a loved one, a moment of kindness whether given or received. And yes, just enjoying a sunrise or sunset; seeing that kind of beauty has the power to fill the soul with such wonderful feelings, to make us believe if even for a moment that everything will be alright.
I think the same is true when it comes to losing an addiction and I think it starts long before we actually quit. It starts with a simple little thought. “Why?”
Why do I smoke I wonder, when I know it brings nothing good to me. Why is it that I take pleasure in destroying my future rather then building it? What is this thing that motivates me to smoke I wonder? And slowly these little thoughts materialize into a thought that takes us and the addict within totally by surprise. “Why don't I quit?”
Because a series of smaller thoughts formed into the one grand thought of quitting, it bypasses the defenses that our addiction creates and allows the thought to form and by the time we realize that we're thinking about taking our lives back, the thought is strong enough that in a lot of cases we actually decide to act on that thought and turn the thought of quitting into a reality.
And still, throughout our quits it's the little things that both inspire us to continue as well as try to derail our quits. It's the little thoughts of smoking that if allowed to bloom will become the main thought in the forefront of our day. It can be that one little thought of how we're losing so much when we quit. Or when we feel a pang of jealousy because another can smoke and we can't. These are the little things that we have to work on constantly lest those little thoughts become the gigantic crave that causes us to lose our quit.
And then there's the little thoughts of achievement that we feel along the way, like the first day we succeed in our quits. That little thought allows us to continue onward to the next day free of the shackles of addiction. Or when we slowly realize that we can smell better or taste things like we never tasted them before.
And when we first quit, we're bombarded with all of these conflicting little thoughts that are so contradictory to each other that almost none of them makes any sense. This is the time to rip the positive thoughts out of your main stream of thought because then you can take all those little positive thoughts and turn them into the main thoughts of the day.
It's so easy to dwell on the negative when we quit rather then finding the positive and using that as your shield and sword that will protect you from the addict within. Part of the reason is that we haven't lived this new and wonderful world of the non smoker yet. We have no knowledge of what it will be like to be free.
But we can certainly grasp onto the concepts that we read about from others. When we start thinking about smoking, this would be a good time to think about the freedom of enslavement that we feel every day. This is the time to think about that bright future waiting for you if you can just climb a little higher. If you can just keep your focus on that amazing summit. If you can just dream of standing there waiving the banner of freedom high for all to see, so very proud not just of your new found freedom but also of the fact that you turned those positive thoughts into something more then positive. You turned it into a new life!
You took those little things and each day built them into something amazing.
So take each day as it comes. Try not to let the little things bother you to much. After all, it's really up to us to choose which little things to pay attention to. And it doesn't take long to figure out which will help and which will hinder us in our quits.
Stick to the positive aspects of the quit and tell that addict within to shut up! You've got better things to think about then smoking. You've got a new life just around the next bend. Perhaps just over the next boulder field. The ball's in your court my friends. I hope you find the happiness within it and whack it out of the park into your new life of freedom!!
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
