I have been reading BecomeanEX for weeks and been left speechless. My depression and anxiety have been so intense that I related to a recent post, "why bother?"
Well, let me tell you why. EXers are not just fair weather friends. We're like Family through thick and thin. We're here for each other when we lift others up and when we are the ones in need of a lift. We have bonded over the Recovery of Nicotine Addiction - no small task! As smokers our priority over anything and anybody were our sickerettes. As recovering addicts we now realize how important people and relationships are to all of us.
Sometimes I ask which came first the chicken or the egg. I was socially awkward before I picked up smoking - motivated by the desire to fit in! And yes, we did build relationships around our shared addiction, but those relationships were as nebulous as smoke clouds that surrounded us.
When I became an EX I recognized that we are friends of recovery - not addiction. Addiction stunts our growth and recovery nourishes self growth. So we grew up in front of our Community. When you go back to your favorite EXer's earliest blogs and then progress through the blogs toward the present you see this growing process right before your eyes.
We come here timid and doubtful and grow into confident and secure. It's the gift of Smoking Cessation. That doesn't mean that we don't get depressed and or anxiety as well as other life challenges. It means we don't have to go through these tense times alone.
And we don't have to celebrate our Quit Anniversaries, milestones, and accomplishments alone.
Why bother? Because we have each other - just a blog away!
If I can't be here some days, my friends have my back. When they can't be here, I have theirs. We're in this beautiful, magnificent, wondrous recovery together!
