Celebrating three years smoke free today!!

[Chuck-2-20-2011]

Good morning EXer’s!!

I hope this finds you as well as you can be considering what you’re doing. I’ve come by to celebrate three years of smoke free living with you. At times it amazes me how much time has passed since the day that I made the decision to take my life back. That wonderful day when I decided that freedom was so much more important than the alternative. A consuming addiction that was slowly chewing it’s way into the depths of my mind to try to gain total control over my life forever.

It’s a day to be celebrated for all of us when we make that decision to quit because one thing is certain. When you find that freedom. I mean really find it then you want others to experience it. You want to see how that person can lift the cloud of addiction from their own minds and join a new kind of club. One that deals with life rather than a slow, suffocating death. One where there is so much more laughter simply because freedom brings happiness. And there’s a kind of peace knowing that when we do the things that always involved smoking, those things become different somehow. I still do the same activities that I did when I smoked but now I see more and feel more because all of my senses are involved in the activity itself without the endless nagging thoughts of when to have that next cigarette.

It’s a wonderful life to be sure but it has to start somewhere. I think we take the first step into our new lives the first moment that we accept the thought that we don’t want to smoke anymore. I don’t mean the day when you think of quitting but rather the day when you’re actually accepting the thought as a possible reality. The day we look past the fear of changing our lives and instead see the glorious future that we’re about to create simply by following our hearts instead of the fear that the mind can create when it comes to quitting.

I remember the fear well and I also remember that this fear can be overcome simply by looking past a reality that has been shrouded by the power that we give our addictions. That’s right. We give power to our own addictions because it’s more convenient to continue on the path that we’ve always walked. When we really make that choice to quit, we choose to do a lot of things. We choose to change our lives for the better and go through what it takes to make that change. We choose to see past the shroud of our addictions to the reality that lives there. To the peace and freedom. But most important of all, we choose to desire that peace and freedom more than we want to continue to fuel an addiction that can do us no good!

So it starts with that thought and soon the thought grows until it consumes us with a desire to see that freedom that only we can create by our own actions. As we grow we start to look past the discomforts that must first be dealt with and we start to see what life would be like without cigarettes. We break down the shrouds of our own addiction so that we can clearly see the goal ahead. The shimmering banner of freedom blowing in the wind high on the summit of Mt. Freedom.

I remember a time when that summit looked so far away. The banner seemed so unattainable. So hard to get to. But that didn’t change my resolve. Instead it built it because I knew that to get there, I had to first take that first step and put out that cigarette and then be willing to put one foot in front of the other, careful of my footing at first for this is the time that can be the trickiest. When our confidence first builds.

But soon I had many steps upward on the slopes of the mountain. I could look back at all that had been accomplished so far but I rarely looked back  for you see, my future lied ahead. At the top of Mt. Freedom. I wanted to wave that banner of freedom high over my head so badly that to even think about another cigarette was hard to do.

Don’t get me wrong here. I had to fight my battles just as we all do but now I’m here to tell you what’s past that. I’m here to attest to the peace that exists at the end of this climb. I’m here to tell you how wonderful freedom feels. All it takes is a little time and the will to commit to yourself for the long haul because this is a fight that no one can do for us. We have to do this fight ourselves and as such we must always remain true to the journey and never forget why we started it in the first place.

It won’t be long before you too are standing on the summit of Mt. Freedom, smiling happily and grabbing that banner of freedom so that you too can wave it high in the air for all to see! And like me you’ll be looking down the slopes at all who are still climbing and all you’ll want to do is coach them on. Throwing them a rope to grab onto in hopes of making the climb easier for them. Beckoning to them to make that final climb because we all want to share that banner of freedom. That day of success. The culmination of a dream that we took beyond just the dream and instead turned that dream into a reality that cannot be ignored because in the end when the freedom is felt; When the peace is felt; This is when we know that it was all worth the effort. Until then we just have to take it on faith.

So listen to those who have been there my friends. Listen to those who feel the peace right now that you long for so badly. Take what you can from them and build it into your own quit. It’s offered freely so what can it hurt?

Me? After three years I really do feel peace. And the Freedom? Amazing! In the last few months while I’ve been absent I did something I’ve always wanted to do. I wrote a book. I know, it seems like an odd thing to do for some but it reinforced some things in me. It taught me that there’s so much that can be done with all of that time we wasted smoking. My concentration has been perfect without the endless nagging of my addiction telling me it was time to smoke. And once that endless background noise of addiction is gone, there’s room in the mind for so much more!

Anything is possible and it all started way back in the beginning when I was still heavily addicted and made that choice to quit. That day when I looked ahead to where I’m at right now and stuck to that vision of a smoke free life. Sure, I had to live the journey. We all do. It’s just an unfortunate fact of addiction. But in the end all of the discomfort. All of the unfounded fear of quitting. All of the wars we have to have with ourselves to achieve freedom are worth it.

How do I know? Because the dreams I had in the past are the realities that I’m living today!

On another note, I haven’t really published my book yet. I’ve got a few looking at it but that wasn’t really the point with this mental exercise of mine. I call it a practice book. It started out as a little couple of thousand words story and blossomed into a 90,000 word novel. And along the way, I think it taught me the art of writing. Who knows where I’ll go from there, but one thing is certain. I now have the time. The clear mind and a new found confidence that came from my ability to be free. A confidence in myself that anything is achievable, so long as we stick to a plan to the bitter end no matter how hard it might seem at the time!

GO FOR IT!!

ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!

Chuck