You know, I was just re-reading my blog from a few minutes ago. And I'm sort of embarrassed that I made it sound so hard.
I love to make it all sound like it's extraordinarily complicated and that I'm some kind of Superwoman...but really it's not that hard! It's just taking care of business, one task at a time.
When I get overwhelmed by life, I always remember something that My Beloved taught me early on in our relationship.
Out of the blue, he asked me (when I was moaning and crying and carrying on about something), "How do you eat an elephant?"
"Huh?" I said.
He said, "How do you eat an elephant?".
"I dunno" I said "What does THAT have to do with my problems? Why are you making a joke NOW, when I have so much to deal with??" (Actually I didn't just say that, I GROWLED it that at the poor man.)
He laughed at me. And then he took me by the shoulders and sat me down on the couch. He turned off the oven and the computer and the TV. He took my iPad and my cellphone and set them aside. He looked me in the eye and repeated for the third time, "How do you eat an elephant?".
I was so impatient and frustrated at the way he was delaying all the crap I had to take care of! "Ok, I'll humor you. HOW?" I said, in a NOT-loving voice.
And that wonderful man said these words that have carried me through multiple stressful situations where I have felt SO overwhelmed and that I had SO much on my plate and just couldn't manage it all...
My Beloved said to me, " One bite at a time, Honey, just one bite at a time..."
It gave me a whole new perspective. It taught me to conquer one obstacle or task at a time, then move on to the next one.
And THAT'S how I got through those early minutes...hours...days...weeks...months...of my Quit.
ONE BITE AT A TIME.
How did I ever get so lucky to find this man? (Well, that's actually a good story...for another blog)
All you really need to take from this blog is that you don't have to eat the entire elephant in one meal! Just take one bite at a time.
Don't look at the big idea of never smoking again.
Just take it one moment at a time.
The moments will soon stretch into hours and days.
And you will LOVE yourself for doing this.
We promise to help you. All you have to do is ASK for help.
xxxooo, Sky
