~~Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.~~ Martha Graham
How true. Great dancers dance with passion. Great singers sing with passion. Great artists paint with passion. And, I dare to say, when you find your passion in life, you do it with passion.
But when we quit smoking....the best, most wonderful thing we can do for ourselves....we do it with:
hesitation
fear
trepidation
anxiety
reluctance
And we justify these feelings by saying that quitting is the hardest thing in the world to do. Quitting is agony. Quitting is a battle, a struggle, a challenge.
And that, my friends, is the glaring truth about addiction. It changes your brain chemistry to such an extreme that you battle yourself. Because addiction isn't a tangible solid three-D figure....addiction is in your mind. It's in how you think and what you think. Nicotine has altered our brains and caused us to believe in something that chains us to a behavior that can kill us. How messed up is that?
Where is the passion for getting our lives back? Where is the passion for breaking free from addiction? Where is the passion for living free?
I can tell you that it's there. Just under the hesitation and the fear and the trepidation and the reluctance. Your passion for recovery is what drives you to quit over and over when it doesn't seem it will stick. Your passion is what brings you here. Your passion for life is what puts the whisper in the back of your mind that it's time to quit. Nicotine strongly alters our brain chemistry but your passion for life is stronger so use it. Use it when you feel weak. Use it when life gets tough.
I love my family and want to see my grandchildren grow. I love my friends, my fur baby, my friends. I love watching the sun rise and the rain fall and the wind blow. I love the stars and the moon and the feeling of fresh air. And I love being free from looking for the designated smoking area. The nearest store where I can get another lighter. The need to finish eating so I can have that after dinner cigarette. I love breaking free from the isolation of addiction.
So find your passions in life and USE them!! Use your desire to live to quit. And know that no matter how difficult quitting is, your true strength lies underneath the lies of addiction so push on! You can do it 
Sheri
