When we choose to regain our freedom, we commit to a journey. A journey that takes time and is filled with discovery! A journey that may not be perfect, but there’s a goal in mind at the end of the journey. One filled with light and peace. One filled with unimaginable freedom. One filled with life and love.
Really it’s a hard journey at times, filled with confusion and sometimes fear. But it’s also filled with a feeling of accomplishment. A feeling of believing in ourselves, because that’s the only way we’ll see the end of this journey. By first loving ourselves and second by believing that we really can stay on the path to freedom.
When we first quit, our biggest fear is that we won’t have what it takes to complete the journey. We find it so hard to turn off the internal argument and it drives us crazy at times. We feel like the world is so different now. And understanding that difference is a key to success.
In reality, the world hasn’t changed at all. It’s us that has changed. And these changes are powerful both now and in our futures. But first we have to find a way to stay true to ourselves. We have to find a way to see our new world as a positive world when at times all we can see is negative.
We see how hard it is without our crutch rather than seeing the benefits of what we’re doing. Changing our thinking can be a challenge, but it can be done. Every person who has a successful quit has done just that!
At first we know that we’re doing what we want to do. After all, we know that cigarettes have no real benefit to us. Usually, we somehow find a way to get through the first hard days but then the second week rolls around and we don’t seem to be feeling any better. This is a tricky time for a quit.
I mean, what the hell? We just spent three days getting this physical addiction out of our bodies and added some days on top of that. Why don’t we feel better? In my opinion, this is where it gets hard. White knuckling through that first week was something we were prepared for, but for some reason even though we were told, we never realized the journey would take time! We focused so much on the first hard days that we forgot to prepare for the rest of the journey!
And so when the next week rolls around, we think “Why hasn’t this gotten better?”
The truth is that in that first week, we really begin the journey. In that second week, we start to pull the real tentacles of addiction out of our bodies. Because those tentacles are implanted within our minds, and over the years we willingly let them grow, telling our inner self that this one bad action is OK, even though we always knew it wasn’t.
And so begins the part of the journey where the mental part lives. We no longer physically crave the cigarette and yet we feel like we do. Some have called the tentacles memories. I agree with that.
But how can we possibly change those thoughts? How can we teach ourselves that we no longer smoke when the mind has been told for so long that this is right? There is no easy answer to this. If there was, every addict would be free.
All I can say is that we have to focus on the rainbow rather than the darkness that a storm can bring. We have to find a way to see the wondrous future that we’re creating rather than dwell on our past of smoking. That’s why I say that the key to quitting lives inside of every addict.
Once we find the benefits of quitting to outweigh the discomfort of losing an addition, we feel better. Once we peer into the smoke free future and see happiness rather than loss, we feel better. Once we know that the “old friend” is really the enemy, we feel better.
Getting to that point is the hard part. And that’s why we’re here. To remind you of the future you long to see. To show you by example that the freedom that comes from losing an addiction is incredible! To tell you of the peace that awaits you just around the corner, so long as you can get through the tough part. To help you to see the rainbow instead of the storm.
It’s all so very beautiful. All you have to do is stay on the path and never, ever give up! I know I make it sound easy and in a way it is because the key is already inside of you! Go for it! You won’t regret it! I look forward to seeing you in the very place that you want to be!
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
Chuck
