I just read an article by Francie Diep discussing long-term space travel and found the following paragraph analogous to the experience of quitting (emphasis mine):
Isolated and confined environments can also be growth enhancing and salutogenic. For example, people in polar environments or space may experience increased fortitude, perseverance, independence, self-reliance, ingenuity, comradeship.... Some astronauts and cosmonauts in space have reported transcendental experiences, religious insights, or a better sense of the unity of mankind as a result of viewing the Earth below and the cosmos beyond.
Empowerment is one of the gifts quitting affords us, aside from the health benefits. In a sense we ARE isolated from non smokers by this addiction. People who have never smoked tend to think of our need as simply a bad habit. And until we have done our homework, we may think the same. It is education about this addiction that turns the page of our mind in new directions and understanding. Thereby enabling our empowerment.
When we begin to learn about our internal addicted environment, we also gain the ability to change it. For example when we understand what our triggers are, we can alter them, halt them by not putting ourselves in certain trigger situations, or we can change our response TO them. And once we learn we have the power to change that to which we were a slave, a new cosmos opens before us.
And as we progress on this long-term journey we discover our own ingenuity in conquering the beastie; our perseverance brings milestones, milestones promote increased fortitude, fortitude enables independence.
We gain a sense of comradeship through the sharing of the experience, but ultimately we become more and more self-reliant. Because the journey to Freedom extends beyond the addicted environment into all aspects of our lives, we are empowered and emboldened to expand, grow, learn, adapt and change. Who woulda thunk quitting would have enabled all that!
