~~Turn your demons into art, your shadow into a friend, your fear into fuel, your failures into teachers, your weaknesses into reason to keep fighting. Don't waste your pain. Recycle your heart.~~ Andrea Balt
So you're afraid of failing in your quit....turn that fear into the fuel of your quit. You failed before? Turn that failure into a teacher...what did you learn? Feeling weak? That's a good reason to keep fighting your addiction.
Sounds cliché-ish. Sounds like a feel good moment from someone who maybe forgot what it was like in the early days of a quit. Sounds like something you have no intention of trying because quitting is just too hard and no fun whatsoever.
I'm not going to bore you with tails from my own quit. If you want to know more about that, you can read my old posts. And clichés are often words of hope for those who otherwise are stuck in their own darkness. And I definitely don't have to tell you how hard it is to quit smoking....you already know that.
But do you know that you gain so much more than you ever thought possible if you keep your quit? Your fears really do turn into fuel as you travel life's roads. You aren't afraid of shadows because darkness is only a small part of your life now as you learn you get to control your light. And your pain? All that pain that floods you as you learn to navigate life without the crutch of smoking? That pain brings wisdom...wisdom brings peace....peace brings contentment. Until all those negative emotions that you thought would stick to you forever are gently molded into experiences conquered. Battles won. Adventures accomplished.
And then you take all that fuel and teaching and art and friendship and you blossom into an elder. Recycled heart. You stay here like JonesCarpeDiem because you know what it's like to quit. You stay here like indingrl because it's God's calling for you to help others. You stay here like elvan because your heart demands it. You stay here like YoungAtHeart and Thomas3.20.2010 and Giulia JACKIE1-25-15 and the Barbaras and Mandolinrain and all the other elders active on this site because you care, you understand, and you want to support those who come behind you. (Can't name all of you but if you go to Giulia's Elder list, there you all are 
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Recovery. Quitting. Letting go. Whatever you want to call breaking your addiction to cigarettes, the fact remains that you will come out the other side a different, stronger, wiser person. Recycled, in a way, from your start. Hang in there. Get to know your strengths and your talents and your mind. Use all of that to create a quit that is a reflection of the beautiful person you are. And then....stay.
Sheri
