Difficulty ...

[Ladybug--7-3-12]

Perspective IS important.  Some thoughts to ponder.

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On Difficulty to Quit ...

"Life is difficult.  It is a series of problems to be solved.  Contentment and self-esteem are not ends in themselves -- they are the by-products of facing challenges honestly and courageously.  I can run from the difficulty of my cravings and conflicts, or I can embrace and experience them for a much more satisfying life.  Today I will embrace the difficulty of not smoking as a small price to pay for a very worthwhile end."

"Stopping smoking has positives and negatives.  The positives are the wonderful physical and psychological benefits that come from not smoking.  The negatives are the difficult moments -- lots of them early on, fewer as time goes by -- that are part of being an ex-smoker.  If I don't accept the negatives, I won't get the benefits.  If I'm not willing to pay the price, I don't get the payoff.  I will either have both the good and the bad, or I'll have neither because I'll be smoking.  For now, I choose to embrace not smoking -- both the difficult moments and the wonderful rewards.  I accept it all, good and bad alike."

"Smoking is much harder than not smoking.  As a smoker I was obsessed with stopping smoking.  I thought about it all the time.  Not a day went by when I didn't say to myself, "This is crazy.  I've got to stop doing this to myself."  When I first stopped smoking, I was totally preoccupied with smoking for the first week or so.  But the amount of time I focus on it has been declining steadily, and it is quickly becoming a very minor issue in my life.  I think about smoking less and less all the time, and much less than when I was still smoking."

"There is no free lunch.  Anything worth having requires effort.  And this is especially true of stopping smoking.  To successfully control my addiction I need to accept moments of craving and make decisions to forego instant gratification for the greater long-term satisfaction.  I need to spend time occasionally in conflict, thinking about what's important to me and what kind of life I want to have.  I need to work at honesty and keep stopping smoking a high priority.  If I don't bemoan the intrinsic difficulty of stopping smoking -- I can welcome it as a worthwhile task, freely chosen."

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From "Out of the Ashes" by Peter & Peggy Holmes.