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Share your quitting journey

No trouble on Thursday

LarryG
Member
4 9 55

Robert Reece Spaulding Lake  Oakfield Maine.JPG

This is Spaulding Lake in Oakfield, Maine (Aroostook County).  Robert Reese took the photo on a peaceful day.

My wife fell yesterday, two broken bones in left leg and damage to both replacement knees - I'll know more later today, she was resting in a nice quiet room when we last spoke a couple of hours ago.  I think she will be okay given some time and maybe surgery.  There is no need to smoke or do any other harmful stuff.

Responsibility is to be taken, not assigned. We are often eager to point out the faults of others, especially when they have not accepted the degree of culpability we think they should. Placing a burden of shame or blame on another—or tossing it upon our own shoulders—is not what responsibility is really about. It is not a constant barrage of incrimination, making others wrong because of their mistakes or putting them down for making less-than-skillful choices. Nor is it about drowning them in a sea of regrets—a fate we also must avoid ourselves.

The accountability that taking responsibility requests is born of a deep desire to grow, to look first within ourselves before pointing a finger at another. To ask, over and over, what is—or was—my part in creating the current dilemma, and what do I need to do about that? This places us squarely in solution mode rather than remaining stuck in a painful past or an imagined, fearful future. Responsibility keeps us present, willing, open, and in discovery mode. It sorts through what is really mine and what is theirs, a liberating perspective that empowers everyone.

From: Cornerstones

“Yesterday is but a dream,
Tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”
 Kālidāsa, The complete works of Kalidasa

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About the Author
I quit on October 25, 2013, it was the best decision I ever made (or, one of them). I smoked for over 50 years and quit Cold Turkey. My most useful tool is gratitude, you can borrow some from me.