~~The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are already lying ready for you as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.~~ Arnold Bennett
Sometimes when we get caught up in the merry-go-round of life, we forget that we can begin anew. With freshness and light and a perfect sense of now. Instead we tend to plod on, dragging burdens and yesterdays and mistakes with us as if we need to remind ourselves just how rotten we are. Then, of course, since we are rotten, we might as well smoke and get it over with, right? Wrong.
Lay it all down, sweet quitters, and surrender. Be done with the battles that rage within. Surrender. "Addiction, come do your worst! I give up." No, you are not giving IN, just giving up. Feel like you're going crazy? See how crazy you actually go. Feel like your going to explode if you don't smoke. Lay down and let yourself blow up. (I've personally never seen anyone actually explode myself. You may want to call me first.) Feel like you just can't stand it another minute? See what happens two minutes from now if you don't give in.
And if you have that heavy burden of quitting before then relapsing...then quitting and relapsing...and then once again quitting and relapsing......you haven't wasted your time up to now. You've learned, you've grown, and you've suffered quite enough, don't you think? Lay it down and step into this lovely next moment that is free of your yesterdays. Time doesn't hold grudges or memories of all the errors of our ways. We do. Time welcomes us with open arms, new and clean.
We can't waste time in advance and I like that. What we can do is come into that time with a clean slate. No more lingering of past mistakes, no more guilt of what we failed to accomplish. When you surrender, you are allowing the negatives you hold on to freedom to die. What you're left with is quiet peace, calmness, and a soft beginning into tomorrow.
I heard "To those who find stillness, the whole universe surrenders" in my yoga class today. What a lovely thought. Maybe you can find that stillness through surrendering and refusing to fight anymore. Let things happen and stay still in your heart.
Blessings to you and yours 
Sheri
