28 Months of Smoke-Freedom
If have been around since the beginning of my blog, then you may remember that some of my early posts were made about my desire to, and the process of quitting smoking. If you are new welcome! I am just writing today to update, since it has been so long since I have updated on this topic, that today marks 28 months since I had my last cigarette! In the grand scheme of things 2 years and some change isn't a long time but when you started smoking at the age of 13 it is, as Ron Burgundy would say, "kind of a big deal."
The one question that I always get asked is how did you do it. Most of the time this question comes from people who have known me for some time and were witness to numerous attempts and failures, and believe me there were many! I tried cold turkey, smoking less each day, and the patch but they all attempts...FAIL! So how was this time different? How did I go from failure, after failure, after failure? Simple really, I assessed where I went wrong in the past and looked to see what I was missing.
The first step was wanting to quit. It is not like I did not want to quit any of the other times but I was ready. I realized that I have a son and I want to be around for the long haul for him. I say to anybody that asks me what they can do I say that you have to be ready. If you are not 100% ready to commit, you are going to fail. This is a decision that you have to make and do not let anyone else make it for you. Don't quit just to please someone else, quit for YOU!
The next step was the most important step for me. It was a step that when I looked back at the many previous quit attempts, this was the one thing missing. The one thing, or should I say the one person missing in the equation was GOD. With God we know that all things are possible, but here I was not even including the Creator in my plans. Disregarding the One formed me in my mother's womb. Once I submitted myself to the Lord and said I could not do it alone, He freed me from the chains of my addiction. It was tough the first few days, even using the patch, but I remained in prayer and He made the cravings cease. I wore the patch for about four or five days and that was it. By week two the cravings were near gone. All because I included God, the one who I was missing all along.
I can honestly say that as I sit here 28 months later, that I take no credit for any of this. If I had not included God in my quit plan, despite how much I wanted to quit, or no matter how ready I was, I would still be smoking today.
The one question that I always get asked is how did you do it. Most of the time this question comes from people who have known me for some time and were witness to numerous attempts and failures, and believe me there were many! I tried cold turkey, smoking less each day, and the patch but they all attempts...FAIL! So how was this time different? How did I go from failure, after failure, after failure? Simple really, I assessed where I went wrong in the past and looked to see what I was missing.
The first step was wanting to quit. It is not like I did not want to quit any of the other times but I was ready. I realized that I have a son and I want to be around for the long haul for him. I say to anybody that asks me what they can do I say that you have to be ready. If you are not 100% ready to commit, you are going to fail. This is a decision that you have to make and do not let anyone else make it for you. Don't quit just to please someone else, quit for YOU!
The next step was the most important step for me. It was a step that when I looked back at the many previous quit attempts, this was the one thing missing. The one thing, or should I say the one person missing in the equation was GOD. With God we know that all things are possible, but here I was not even including the Creator in my plans. Disregarding the One formed me in my mother's womb. Once I submitted myself to the Lord and said I could not do it alone, He freed me from the chains of my addiction. It was tough the first few days, even using the patch, but I remained in prayer and He made the cravings cease. I wore the patch for about four or five days and that was it. By week two the cravings were near gone. All because I included God, the one who I was missing all along.
I can honestly say that as I sit here 28 months later, that I take no credit for any of this. If I had not included God in my quit plan, despite how much I wanted to quit, or no matter how ready I was, I would still be smoking today.
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