So it is Sunday night. I am sitting on the swing. Not really swinging, but just sitting, moving back and forth a little. Sunday nights are like this on the playground. The weekend is coming to an end. People are getting ready for school or work. Families are doing family things, and well, some of us are kinda stuffed from a big Sunday dinner. Sunday night is always a laid back kind of time.
But that is okay, because that also makes it good thinking time.
A light breeze is blowing, and with it getting only up to the mid 60’s today, well, it is a bit cool. A few kids are on the merry go round, talking, but not going real fast. Others are in the sandbox. I also see some new people, hanging around the entrance. They want to come in, but like I was, they are fearful of what being nicotine free might mean. They are wondering if they will just fail again. Or if coming to this playground will really help. I remember so many things going through my head when I first entered the playground. It seems like just yesterday. And it also seems like years ago.
So as I sit on the swing, I think of all the differences of all of us on the playground. We all have one thing in common. We are addicted to nicotine. That is where the similarities end. We all have different reasons for wanting to quit. We all have different things that make us want to smoke (watch out for pineapple upside down cake). We all need different things that will help us stay on our quit.
And that is what I find to be so wonderful about this playground. When someone comes in, everyone comes together to help. But they all come in offering different advice. They are all coming from different places. The person who came in looking for help takes what they need, and leaves the rest.
And everyone is okay with that.
Let me say that again.
Everyone is okay with that.
There is no competition. There is no concern that someone used Sally’s advice and not Rob’s. No one cares who helped get someone through the rough times. Everyone comes together to celebrate it regardless.
This is what makes our playground so great. There are no egos. It is only about helping. I only wish the world I am normally in was as wonderful.
And that is why, on a slow Sunday night, I am sitting on the swing. Not really swinging, but just sitting, moving back and forth a little.
