cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Read a member curated list of EX Community content over 10+ years

Who coulda believed it?

There was once a time when I was beyond being a smoker. When I was beyond ever finding a way out of my addiction. A time when I was totally confident in the lies that I told myself. I was more hooked than any other person in the world was!

LOL. I think we all thought that when we first decided it was time to quit. But the bottom line is that so many have found their way through the cloud of addiction to the freedom that lies on the other side. Really, it’s hard to believe that so many of us who quit so long ago could ever have been as addicted as you.

But we were. We all believed the lies of addiction, mostly because we wanted to. It was just so much easier than the alternative of quitting, right? I mean, why would we want to take away what has become the most important facet of our lives? Why would we want to feel the tension and confusion that comes with a quit if we don’t have to?

But then comes that day when we look on the other side of the coin. The day that we understand that the thing we love most is killing us. For me, the fear that I felt the moment I thought I might actually quit was incredibly strong. I was shaking and had sweats just from thinking that I might actually quit.

But once I got over that, I decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to spend every waking moment preparing to succeed. But what to do? How to start? I really was confused and the addict within had no intention of making this easy.

But over time, I found ways to ignore the fear so that I could learn about what I decided was my number one enemy in this fight. My number one enemy was myself and my own addicted thoughts. I had to get past all of the years of lying to myself. I had to get past the fact that my addiction had woven itself into the very fabric of my being. I had to get past the fear of change and I had to find a way to convince myself that I wanted freedom more than I wanted a slow, agonizing death.

It takes time to get the mind where it needs to be. It takes time to learn all about how we interact with the addiction. But it’s time well spent.

All I can say is that the happiest day of my life was the day I put out the last cigarette well over six years ago. The day that I peered through the cloud of addiction and saw the world the way it really was for the first time in a long time. And I never looked back!

My point is that though the fight may seem hard, it’s still a fight that’s doable. The hard part is that it takes time. And it takes commitment. And it takes a love for life and freedom! Always look ahead to the freedom that awaits you!

Learn all you can about yourself and seek the advice of others because one thing’s certain. It’s a fight that’s better fought with others, even if those others are on line, for when it comes to the heart there really is no distance. That’s one of the things that makes EX so wonderful. We can come here with our fears and share them to perhaps make them a little easier. We can learn all that others had to learn on their own journeys. We can feel like the world is collapsing around us because we feel so strange when we start the quit. But that’s OK. We’ve all been there and understand.

So never think you have to be alone. Never believe for even a moment that you cannot take your life back. It’s within you, just like it was within all of us. It starts out as a single thought and with a little nurturing becomes a full fledged quit.

Go for it!! There’s so much waiting for you, if you can just take that first step. The freedom awaits you and it’s worth every bit of discomfort that it takes to get there. Stay true to yourself and before long you’ll be smiling a smile like you've never smiled before, for you will be smiling a smile that can only come from freedom!!

ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!

Chuck 

Tags (1)
8 Replies
elvan
Member

Beautiful, Chuck, thanks for writing this.  It is so true, we form bonds on this site, some of us have been lucky enough to meet other EXers and it's like we have known each other for years.  This is a journey, hopefully of epic portions...one day at a time although it is very rare for me to have a thought of a cigarette.  It is NEVER a thought that I WANT one, it is sometimes a thought that, WOW, that SMELLS, where is it coming from?  

Being on this site and becoming an active member have been the foundation for my quit and they have kept me free and growing.

Ellen

good to see you posting again.  I really enjoy your blogs !!!!

0 Kudos
MarilynH
Member

Thanks Chuck for this awesome blog post, life really does get better and better without the crutch of smoking Freedom Rocks.

tlajbenn
Member

Thank you for posting this. It is beautifully written and has a powerful message. I can relate to the shaking and having the sweats in the beginning. But each day got easier and I began to feel stronger. This journey keeps getting better (and smelling better too   ) Being able to come here and get it all out with unconditional support is the reason I remain quit. 

minihorses
Member

Very well spoken Chuck. My withdrawal symptoms were a lot worse than that but I still made it through. Your inspiration will renew a lot of people's commitment to keep moving forward. 

Julie    18DOF

bonniebee
Member

Great blog Chuck thank you ! It truly is an amazing journey and feels wonderful two be free ! 

i remember thinking the same thing ..why am I more hooked then anyone else ? What is wrong with me ??? Now i am a little annoyed when some smokers ,like one of my sisters says to me ,Well it was easy for you Bonnie , you were not as hooked on them as I am " I would lose my mind . I have to laugh now  and remember when I  had similar thoughts .

Giulia
Member

If Best of EX were still my group, I would put this blog in there.  (For now I'll just add it to the list of hopefuls for the future Advisory Board.)  Beautiful as usual Chuck.

Tammyzhere
Member

You said, "we feel so strange when we start the quit" -  oh most def YES - our whole routine is turned upside down.  

"It starts out as a single thought and with a little nurturing becomes a full fledged quit."   Any quit is a good quit but the best quit of all is not having to keep quitting.  It's Day 1 of no NRT for me.  Huge deal.  I have a social event later.  I just have to make a brief appearance so I'm preparing myself.   I enjoyed this post    

0 Kudos