Good morning EXer’s!!!
So often in my blogs I mention the future. What’s ahead in our journeys. There’s a rather obvious reason for this. When losing an addiction, the present can seem hard to say the least. It can be so easy to become trapped in our own private hell just by dwelling on the present change that we’re trying to create.
Thing is, we have to dwell on it to a degree in order to protect our quits. When we first quit, we have some idea of what’s going to happen and for most of us, we’re not looking forward to it because our addicted minds have put up as many roadblocks as possible to keep us on the path of slavery.
One be one we first have to recognize the roadblocks and then work to remove them. Most of this is done during the preparation phase for most. But then comes the beginning of our new life and it’s not the most pleasant experience to say the least. We begin grappling with our new world right away.
Because we’ve changed the very nature of how we react to the world and the problems that come with it without the use of cigarettes, we feel a kind of confusion. And on top of that, the addicted side of our brain seems to be angry at us! We have to quiet that part of the brain just to try to think straight at first.
We want to lash out at everyone we see! We wonder why they don’t understand what we’re going through and unfortunately for some, this unfounded anger is enough to get a person to give in.
This is why I like to look ahead to the future. Especially now that I’m living the future that I only dreamed of a little over three years ago. Just think of it. There was a time when I, like so many of you was just starting out on this journey. I was living with all of those discomforts that I write about.
I was seeing Mt. Freedom from the bottom and it was a formidable mountain indeed. In fact, it was the way I designed Mt. Freedom. To be a formidable mountain that could properly show me that first of all, the journey wasn’t going to be easy. That the first steps on the slopes were going to be slippery to say the least. That though it’s a steep mountain, I still intend to see the summit.
The summit represented my future. A means for me to keep my eye on the prize of freedom. And when I created the banner of freedom on that summit it was so I could look to it rather than dwell on my present discomfort.
I climbed slowly at first, watching for the pitfalls that might appear on the trail. But each day as my confidence increased, I would look more to the summit and less on where to plant my feet for you see, with experience comes belief. And once you truly believe deep inside of your heart that you’re going to win then guess what? That heart grows! It becomes a consuming desire not for a cigarette. No. Rather it becomes a consuming desire to be free once and for all!
So stay true to your quit. Be vigilant but at the same time, when you feel frustrated. When you begin to wonder if you too can stand on the summit of Mt. Freedom, then this is the time to look to that shining future ahead of you!
Since I’ve climbed to freedom, I can now tell you from experience what awaits you so long as you don’t stray from the path. I can now tell you how free you will become! How at peace your life will be! I can try to remind you every chance I get of the rewards that await you if you can just hang in there for another hour. And then another day. And then a week. And soon, as the years pile up you will be so happy that you did this!
If you’re feeling a little down and wondering if quitting was really the right choice then this is the time to look to that future. This is the time to look to the rewards. This is the time to tell your internal addict that it has no power over you for just like it was doing to you when day by day it enslaved you while killing you, you now are slowly killing that addiction with every day of freedom that you live.
So once again I must say. Hang in there! The future you’re creating now will be the reality you live tomorrow!
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
