Good morning Exer's!!!
I've been absent a few days due to doing a bunch of needed chores before fall sets in. As I was working I realized that what I was doing were things that I always did while smoking. It was a brief aha moment and I began looking for those urges to begin. I did this so that I would be ready just in case. But those urges never materialized even though I gave them the opportunity by thinking about them.
To me, this is what it's all about. As we fight our internal battle for freedom I think there's a moment when we really do become free. A moment when we understand that we really do belong in the world of nonsmokers. We really do feel a lift within ourselves every morning and that lift comes from the fact that urges carry no more power then they did before we lit our first cigarette so long ago.
But of course we must first go through the processes that is the quit. We must first understand that we are addicts. The next thing that must be done is to forgive ourselves for our past transgressions. We must understand that though we did effect our bodies negatively for a long, long time that we now see the light. We now see through our addictions enough to decide to quit. And once we start that quit we have to understand that through forgiving ourselves we strengthen our ability to quit because there's just one less negative thing to think about.
So first forgive. Then move on to that glorious first smoke free day! The day that we take our first cautious step into the land where freedom lies. Though it doesn't feel very free on those first days the reality is that we must find a way to survive them in order to move on. That's when support can be extremely crucial. On those first days, we're sort of testing the waters and so long as we get through that first week, then there's something to build on.
Soon we have that first month behind us. We begin to believe that we might have what it takes to make it to the end. To find that freedom! This is when we really need to be thinking of our futures and let the past be just that. The past. The part that we can't change. What we must focus on is the future that awaits us. That freedom that tastes so sweet. That summit that is so very attainable!
And yes, as the months pass we begin to feel a little bit of that freedom. By degrees we become calmer and more comfortable in our new lifestyles. We can see what at first is a glimmer that we can latch onto, knowing full well what that glimmer is. It's the freedom that we want so badly and it's there for the taking if we can just latch onto it! If we can nurture it and make it grow!
And as we walk that path the glimmer becomes a burning in our hearts. A belief that before long we really will be free. That like me, one day we can all look for those craves and find peace in the fact that their no longer there.
So wherever you are on the path to freedom, take a moment every day to look for that little glimmer and when you find it, grab hold of it tightly. Hold it close to your heart for this is the star that we long for. This is the star that one day will burn so brightly within you that you too will understand what I understand now . . .
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
