THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD........................................

[Sootie]

"Can't believe I am still craving a smoke after two weeks"

"Can't wait until I am quit one year"

"Wish these craves were over"

"Why can't I just be done"

"Wish I could say I had 900 days"

"Can't do it...it's just to hard"

"When will it be over?"

If this is you.......may I make an OUTLANDISH suggestion..................

ENJOY THE RIDE; THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD.

The journey is the reward is the mantra of many runners.  A true runner enjoys the run....not the finish. A true runner runs to run...not really to finish or place or really anything. The RUN ITSELF is the enjoyment! Yet, runs can be tough. Even if you are a trained runner. Why do they run? The journey is the reward.

The same is true of many things----------life itself. So many people rush through life..."wish I was 16, 21, married, kids out of the house, retired". Life goes too fast the way it is...enjoy the journey. The journey is the reward.

Quitting can be the same. Once I stopped fighting how I felt...I found the quit went so much better...actually started to enjoy it (promise!). When things got rough---I sort of "pulled out of myself" and looked at me like an experiment...kind of like..."hmmmm look at that---you crave a cigarette MORE when relaxing than when you are actually stressed.....interesting." Instead of fearing craves...I hit them the way runners hit the hills. You know they are coming. PREPARE and run them. Let the journey be the reward.

Just food for thought........wishing everyone here on EX a rewarding journey.

[Bonnie11.3.2009]

Nice Blog Sootie!!  Reminds me of james, the happy quitter!!  Definately makes a huge difference in your quit and your life.  How amazing that what we always feared (quitting smoking) in reality gave us so much more than we could have ever imagined!!

[Kimshine]

Excellent advice, Thank you!

We're all on the same journey in varying degrees of our quits.

[dpop]

Thank you! This is great!

[Giulia]

And mighty tasty food it is!  This is just wonderful.  This is your chance to learn about YOU.  The discoveries only stop, when you stop allowing them.  The journey IS the event.  Without the journey, the event cannot happen.  The event - is freedom.  What a smashtacular blog Sootie!  Makes my heart beat faster and lights up my mind.

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Thank you for this EXcellent blog.  Everyone can enjoy the commitment of quitting as opposed to complaining about every aspect.  Makes it a lot easier to love your quit and being thankful to have come to a place of peace. ,The reward is so SWEET and we learn from the bumps. Thanks for keeping it simple.  Yay!!!!!!! 

[JACKIE1-25-15]

Amen

[bonniebee]

You are so right and I have been kind of getting to this but you really made me "see" it !

To often in this quit I find myself extremely annoyed that I feel not one bit better off financially even though I have "saved " a lot of money from not smoking ! I have had to fight off this negative thinking !

I tend to think of my rewards in material things and when the rewards are short in coming I get angry .

The reward is the quit itself not just money it is freedom from addiction ,it is learning new ways to deal with my emotions, it is my health, it is to breathe better, it is to respect the body given to me by God it is so much more then just financial ! 

Often I get mad at my friend ,we share our money she still smokes and she prioritizes her cigarette money into our budget and then says any money I would have spent towards cigarettes does nor really count because our bills come first .

Well looking at it from that perspective just makes me angry and jeapordizes my quit so I do have to realize that the journey and the quit is more important then fighting over money !

Thanks for this insightful blog Sooty !

Stay Strong and Carry on !

[ShawnP]

Giving up smoking isn't nothing, we gain so much more from quitting. Its a delight to go through each day and learn something new.

[freeneasy]

What a great way to view your quit.. or anything else in life that's not easy. What a great way of putting quitting in perspective. Thanks Sootie for another gem.