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Share your quitting journey

No Smoking Saturday

LarryG
Member
5 6 49

Back cove Portland 010217 Ben McCanna.JPG

Ben McKanna took this photo of the Back Cove in Portland, Maine one cold winter day.  It's salt water, but the air is cold so there's sea smoke again.

…it is a peaceful thing to be one succeeding.

~Gertrude Stein

Success is at hand. While we read these words, we are experiencing it. At this very instant, our commitment to recovery is a sign of success, and we feel peace each time we let go of our struggle, turning to another for help, for direction. Because we strive only for perfection, we recognize nothing less; we block our awareness of the ordinary successes that are ours again and again. Thus, the serenity the program promises us eludes us. But we are succeeding. Every day that we are abstinent, we succeed.

We can think of the times—perhaps only yesterday—when we listened to a friend in need, or finished a task that was nagging at us. Maybe we made an appointment to begin a project we've been putting off. Success is taking positive action, nothing more.

Many of us, in our youth, were taught that success only came in certain shapes and sizes. And we felt like failures. We need new definitions; it's time to discard the old. Luckily for us, the program offers us new ones.

Every person, every situation, can add to my success today. My attitude can help someone else succeed, too.

From: Each Day A New Beginning, Daily Meditations for Women

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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.