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Share your quitting journey

Addiction

Chuck-2-20-2011
3 5 11

Today I woke up and for some reason I started thinking about addiction. I realized that in the first preperations of my quit that I didn’t think of it as an addiciton but more of a habit. This in a way added power to the addiciton itself because I think most of us percieve a habit as something relatively easy to change.

 

This can be a common mistake when we prepare to quit and I think that by realizing that what we’re doing is beating an addiction, we add strength to the quit itself. By admitting to ourselves that we are indeed addicts, it changes our mindset and I believe improves our ability to succeed.

 

We expect to have to fight more because we’re not just changing a habit but rather beating an addiction.

 

But take heart! Once we can stare our addiction in the face, it helps us to understand what is happening to us when we quit. It helps us to understand that yes, our addiction has clouded our thinking. The addiciton has created a means in our minds that makes us see things differently.

 

I’ve always visualized my addiction as an entity that lives inside of me. One that really doesn’t care much about health, the future or the quality of life that we might experience in that future. An entity that begins throwing a temper tantrum the moment we ignore it’s signals. An entity that has had it’s way for so long, it can’t understand any other way to live.

 

The addict within to me is a screaming child. But it’s also one that can be trained. One that can learn from the new information we give it. It does take time but eventually with each day that we remian free, we begin to rip out the tentacles that the addict within has placed within us over all of this time.

 

After a while, it becomes easy to see through the mask of addiction. We can find ourselves thinking about life and freedom more than we do our current discomforts. We can slowly remove the mask and calm the screaming child that would do us harm.

 

Eventually we find that we can rip that mask right off and see the world as it really is. A wonderful place of peace and freedom where we can hold our heads high and be proud of what we’ve done, not only for ourselves but also for those who we love.

 

And to think. It all starts with that first day that we no longer think about quitting but instead put out that last cigarette and turn our vision into a reality. The day that we decide to thumb our noses at that screaming child within. The day that we decide once and for all that we will have a new and wonderful life and that nothing is going to stop us!!!

 

There is peace awaiting you and there’s a feeling of freedom like you haven’t felt for a long, long time. I know. I’m living the results of that decision I made over four years ago and you know what? I have an agreement with what was once the screaming addict within. I’ve taught that part of me to love life over death and to cherish freedom above all else.

 

I remember what it took to get here simnply because I never want to go back to that place of slavery and deceit. Once you experience the freedom that’s coming your way, I can guarantee that you’ll never want to go back either. I look forward to that day where you too will feel that wonderful peace . . .


Chuck

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