Menno D "When we quit smoking it leaves a void and we have...
Menno D "When we quit smoking it leaves a void and we have to learn to fill that void .." 2016
In an earlier post today @Sam Y. talked about missing smoking after being quit, and the idea that cigarettes are somehow a valuable and useful part of life. And that that idea is hard to shake, also after quitting. Which made me think of this. Thanks Sam.
Smoking has been a big part of our lives. No question. When we quit smoking it leaves a void and we have to learn to fill that void with other –better- things. So that’s already a big reason for missing smoking, the simple absence of something that filled so much of our time before.
What we have to get rid of is the idea that smoking is valuable and useful. But at the same time we must acknowledge that smoking played a very important role in our lives. We have to admit what smoking actually was and did. That we used smoking as our emotional crutch, literally as a smoke screen between us and the world, something to hide behind when things got rough.
Quitting smoking –like quitting any addiction- requires of us that we grow emotionally and spiritually. Which takes blood sweat and tears to achieve. The thought that smoking was something positive is a thought fabricated by the addicted part of ourselves. It’s our emotionally stunned childish brains that want to remain childish and wants its pacifier to suckle on and forgot about all problems. Now we are quit we have to look at the world with open eyes and deal with it.
Not saying I am there jet by any means. But trying to. And I do think that this journey of personal growth is an essential part of recovery from addiction. And at the same time the main thing that makes it so worthwhile to be Quit. Screw addiction and love yourselves.