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Share your quitting journey

Just a thought

Chuck-2-20-2011
0 10 35

When one decides to quit smoking, we kind of make a deal with ourselves. We look inside and decide that this is what we’re going to do like it or not. Then the fear steps in. It’s a fear of changing our lifestyles and even though we know it’s a positive thing, we still fear it.

We think of what life will be like without cigarettes. We wonder how we’ll deal with the stressful times in our lives when we don’t have a kind of tool that we always had to deal with these things. We wonder how we’ll cope with life itself without that nasty little stick. Some of us even look at the cigarette as an old friend that we don’t want to lose.

And our own minds seem to fight us every step of the way, trying to convince us that it’s something we can put off till later. Or after the first uncomfortable day that we face, the mind tells us that this will not work. Our own minds screams at us, convinced that we’re not giving our bodies what they really need.

This is the face of addiction. A thing that causes what should be a positive decision to seem at the very least negative. This creates a kind of turmoil within our own minds. We fight ourselves until that day that we become committed to achieve this positive goal for ourselves.

Once we become committed, we decide that we will fight this negative thinking that goes on within us. We decide that we will ignore this negativity and this is when we start to develop determination to defeat this negative aspect in our minds.

Determination can be as strong or as weak as you let it be in my opinion. But it’s also something that can be created if we try simply by looking at the positives rather then dwelling endlessly on the negatives which is what our own addicted minds try to generate. When we listen to the negatives, we loose hope. We lose our belief that yes, we can do this!

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that our quits can be as easy or as hard as we choose to make them. If we can squash our fear of quitting and if we can focus only on the good aspects of quitting, it just makes the journey easier. And in turn we gain a belief within ourselves that we can actually achieve this positive step in our lives. We believe that we can overcome the initial discomfort of quitting.

So try to live each day understanding that we are indeed doing a good thing in our lives. Try to live each of those hard first days when our minds and bodies fight with us in the spirit of the positive. Keep your determination in the forefront and believe in yourself. Believe that you can do it. Understand that this time in your life is only temporary and that soon all the discomfort will only be a memory.

Do whatever it takes to lead ourselves out of our addiction. We are the only one’s who can really fight for our lives. We are the only ones who can save ourselves from the negativity that can consumes us! We are the only ones who can take that final step and put our addiction away because we know that our future means more to us then a little discomfort right now. And in the end, we are the ones who can be proud of ourselves for beating an addiction that simply robs us of life and breath!

Just a few random thoughts from one who is in the beginnings of a journey that will last the rest of my life . .

10 Comments
MarcieWhosoever

This is exactly what mothergoose was trying to say the other day. I have heard this alot actually and each time it sinks in a little deeper. I am starting to realize that your quit is going to be whatever you make it. Thanks for the reminder.

dvolgenau4
Member

Woke up and jumped on to find your blog...so nicely put... thank you for making the start of my smoke free day even better! have a good one...

dennismk1
Member

oh man... i quit just a little over 30 days but the triggers are still coming... I try and celebrate that ihave been smoke free for these days... but them damm triggers come on strong..... and then when i read about it, for some reason its makeing it worse.   i  dont know what to do... 

va72lady
Member

Dennis..  stand up , walk away from the computer..Take a long walk outside and breathe deeply while walking.   When you come back.   Treat yourself to something you like besides a cigarette...  We can do this.   Shirley

aztec
Member

I loved it, keep positive and look at how many healthy years we will add to our lives, 14, thats amazing, how many we could lose and even more becaseu we would probobly be incapacitated in the last ten.

liked the piece, good job man Aztec

Leeza
Member

You are right on the mark Chuck...attitude and gratitude go a long way.

mrskatiek
Member

Thank you for this awesome post, Chuck!!! It really makes sense. I've got smokers in my life who are worried about life after quitting and I think that this could really help them!! So thank you! Keep protecting that quit! 🙂

mojo8
Member

I am on my third week of chantix, during day I am okay and able to get through the triggers, however in the evening watching television kills me.  I give in and smoke a half then a whole and kid myself saying that is it better then smoking like I used to.  Help with the evening and weekends.

Strudel
Member

Very nicely said Chuck!!

jawidge
Member

Good post Chuck.  Keep thinking this way and your quit will last