~~If you want to experience change, you have to start by being honest with yourself about where you're at now and why that's not working for you and the life you want to live. It's only when we're present and honest with ourselves that we can start to lovingly shift the situation. Change doesn't come in the future, it comes from this moment.~~ AwesomeLifeTips.com
Honesty doesn't always come easily to us, you know. We rationalize, we qualify, we excuse. I think maybe as self-protection sometimes. Our hearts are hurting or our emotions are raw and we just can't take any more pain so we rationalize things....even our smoking. "I'm too stressed, I'll try again tomorrow." "I wouldn't have smoked but he really hurt my feelings." "I can't make this change today, I'm too exhausted to struggle anymore."
But what if we thought about quitting differently? What if our reasons to quit didn't have anything to do with the money we spend or the illness we have or the wants of our family? What if we simply think about how we want our lives to be?
I didn't want to be tied to a little tube of paper and chemicals anymore. I wanted to let go of always needing "just one". I hated that I "had to" buy just one more pack or carton. I wanted to get off my back porch (my smoking place) and into life because I didn't want to sit on the sidelines anymore.
Honestly? I didn't want to be addicted to smoking anymore. It was that simple. The thought that I 'had to' smoke--and I did!-left me sad and alone. The life I wanted to live? Oh, my goodness, I made a list!! From speaking German to making memories with my children to dancing to being active in my community to.....the list went on and on. Funny thing was, once I started on my list of things I wanted to do, the thought of smoking went away. Because I didn't want to be addicted to a tube of paper.
Be honest. Do you want to smoke? Because if you do, you will. And believe it or not, if you want to, you can. Living life honestly means, well, living it honestly. That means being able to say, "I smoke because I want to". Most smokers, however, aren't smoking because they want to. They smoke because they have to. And when they realize that, the comfort of smoking is unmasked and the ugliness of addiction becomes clear. It's there and you can't stop, even though you want to. Wanting to isn't enough. You have to have a plan, right? Where to you want your life to be? And how will you get there?
Some call it a quitkit or a toolbox or even a relapse prevention plan. What are your goals? And how will you reach them? Who are your 'go-to' people when you need a pep talk? What coping skills do you have? What dreams do you want to reach? When you are able to see your life in terms of accomplishing those goals...of having fun in life....of no longer allowing smoking to dictate your minutes....change is happening.
I admire honesty. I love living honestly. And I respect those who live honestly. It's not always easy, but it is always, always worth it. Can you quit? Of course you can!!! Do you want to quit? Only you know the answer to that.
