The Naked Truth!
"The naked truth is always better than the best dressed lie!" - Ann Landers
Addictin rubs rampant over a person’s Values. We do and say things for our fix that we would never do were we not hooked!
Do you think that you’re the EXception or that Nicotine isn’t all that bad? Here’s just one EXample of what goes wrong in the Life of an Addict:
A very egregious wrong of Addiction for me is that it steals away your Honesty! I truly convinced myself that I was an honest, trustworthy person! Honesty has always been a Value at the top of my have-to/want-to list. It’s how I was raised and what was Expected of me and became what I Expect of myself!
Yet as an Addict I lied so many times! I lied about quitting over and over again! I lied about whether I was a smoker and even more ridiculous – about whether I had just had a sickerette! I foolishly believed that my Wife couldn’t smell the stink, couldn’t taste the stinch in my kisses, wouldn’t know if I lied to her because I had used mouthwash and/or gum to cover it up! She knew! She always knew – and worse, she knew that I was so hooked that I would lie for my Drug of choice!
I lied to my Sons, telling them to please don’t smoke and I was so glad I quit when in fact I hadn’t quit! Why should they believe anything I had to say when they certainly knew that I hadn’t quit no matter what lying words came spewing out of my mouth!
I lied to employers, insurance companies, medical staff, even to friends! And then when I thought they weren’t looking I’d sneak a filthy sickerette believing I could have my cake and eat it, too!
Worst of all, I lied to myself! I claimed in my own mind that I wasn’t doing anything all that bad. OR that I know it’s bad but I have plenty of time to stop. I convinced myself that I have a “right” to smoke, i.e. sloooowly daily posion and kill myself. I could make up a bizillion of Excuses as to why I hadn’t lived smoke FREE today! I was bedazzled and bamboozled by a dried up old plant wrapped in paper and dipped into over 7000 deadly chemicals!
When I was “trying to quit” I would count on “luck” to get me to the straight and narrow, all the time sneaking sickerettes and Excusing my behavior with “Well, at least, I’m trying! Quitting is hard and I should give myself a break!” OR "Oh everybody slips! If I slip it will be O.K. I'll just try again!” (....and again and again)
The truth was and is that I am an Addict!
That’s why I advocate for coming clean with everybody! My quit date isn’t 10, 15 20 Years ago! My quit date is March 20, 2010 and I’m proud to say this to anyone who wants to listen to the naked truth! I quit for LIFE! And I rejoice in my newfound honesty!
That’s what Recovery is all about! Re claiming your True Self – living your True Values!
