Fear of the unknown is frightening. Teach them what life on Easy Street is like. By aiding
It may be that complacency has you at a point where thoughts of wanting are again taking
root. But think back. How long had you gone without wanting?
If it is happening, rekindling pride in the amazing journey you once made may silence such
If occurring, I suspect that you've either developed a romantic fixation with using, or failed to let go of one during recovery.
The second complacency factor working against us is a strong, natural desire to want to believe that we've been fully cured, that we can now handle "just one," "just once."
But just one puff, dip or chew and "do not pass go, do not collect $200." Go directly to the addict's prison and surrender your freedom. It isn't that we don't believe the Law. It's probably more a matter of growing to believe that we're the exception to it.
We convince ourselves that we're stronger, smarter or wiser than all addicts who came before us. We amend the law. We put ourselves above it. "Just once, it'll be ok, I can
handle it." "I'm stronger than them." "A little reward, it's been a while, I've earned it."
Such thoughts infect the mind and feed on themselves. Unless interrupted by reason and
If allowed to fester, all our dreams and hard work risk being flushed like a toilet.
Instead of pretending we can handle" just one," such encounters demand truth. Before
reaching the point of throwing it all away we need to be honest about what's about to
If this moment should ever arrive, try telling yourself this before bringing nicotine back into
"My freedom will now end!" "I'm going back." "I can handle all of them, give them
all back to me, my entire addiction, all the trips to the store, the buys, the money, and
the empties." "I want it all back." "Go ahead, slowly harden my arteries and eat my
If a smoker, "fill my world with ash, cover me in that old familiar stench, and let
morning again be for coughing." If an oral user, "take my hair, destroy my teeth, and
put sores back into my mouth."
"Put me back behind bars, make me an outcast, throw away the key and let me die
with my master still circulating in my veins." "I accept my fate" "I'm ready to
surrender!"
It's far easier for the junkie mind to create a one puff, dip or chew exception to the "law"
than to admit the truth.
Instead of picturing just one or once, picture all of them. Try to imagine fitting them into
your mouth all at once. Because day after day, month after month, year after year after year
that's exactly where they'll be going.
"To thine own self be true." You navigated recovery. You paid the price, if any. You
deserve the truth!
If you find yourself attempting to rewrite the Law, stop, think, remember, reflect, read,
revisit, revive and give to others, but most important, be honest with you!
The Perfect Excuse
The final ingredient is an excuse. For many, any excuse will do, even joy! It could be a
reunion with an old buddy who uses, one too many drinks with friends, a wedding, a
graduation, or even a baby's birth and someone handing you a cigar.
Imagine being curious about the new electronic or e-cigarette with its atomization chamber,
smart chip, lithium battery, and cartridge filled with apple, cherry, strawberry, chocolate,
vanilla, coffee, mint or tobacco flavored nicotine.
Imagine watching an e-cigarette instantly vaporize nicotine when sucked and seeing a little
light at the end imitate a real cigarette's heat. What about a chance encounter with a self service display offering two pieces of Nicorette's new Cinnamon Surge," "Fruit Chill" or
"Cappuccino" flavors of nicotine gum for one penny! What about being tempted to
try one of the other new nicotine delivery devices now hitting the streets? It's exactly what
those selling them are hoping will happen.
Imagine being offered the new fully dissolvable tobacco/nicotine toothpicks, sticks, film or
candy flavored orbs.
But joyful or even stupid nicotine relapse is harder to explain to ourselves and to those we
love.
The smart addict waits for the great excuse, the one that will be easy to sell to both
themselves and others. As sick as it may sound, the easiest to sell is probably the death of a
loved one.
Although everyone we love is destined to die and it will happen sooner or later, for the
reformed addict it's the perfect excuse for relapse. I mean, who can blame us for ingesting
highly addictive drugs upon the death of our mother.
Anyone who does would have to be extremely insensitive or totally heartless! Right?
Wrong! There is no legitimate excuse for relapse.
Losing a job, the end of a relationship, a serious illness, disease, a terrorist attack, financial
problems, a flood, earthquake, hurricane, an auto accident, are all great excuses too - it's
drug time again! The addict is back!
Utterly terrible events will happen in each of our lives. Such is life. Adding full-blown
nicotine relapse to any situation won't fix, correct or undo our underlying concern.
Take a moment now and picture yourself fully navigating the worst nightmare your mind
can imagine.
Sooner or later it will happen. When it does, staying clean and free may be the most
positive factor during this period of darkness.
Remember, we've only traded places with our chemical dependency and the key to the cell
is that one hit of nicotine that will force your brain's survival instincts teacher to teach a
false lesson, and make that lesson nearly impossible in the short term to forget.
As long as we stay on freedom's side of the bars, we are the jailers and our dependency the
prisoner.
There are only two choices. We can complete this temporary period of adjustment and enjoy
comfortable probation for life, or introduce nicotine back into our bloodstream, relapse, and
intentionally inflict cruel and unusual punishment upon these innocent bodies for the
remainder of their time on earth.
If the first choice sounds better - lifetime probation - then we each need only follow one
simple rule ... no nicotine today!