One of the underlying currents here at Freedom is that what happens when we each say 'No More - Enough!' to tobacco products
of all types is not really what is commonly called quitting. Freedom - Your Journey to Comfort is different because what is taught here is abrupt cessation
(cold turkey) and addiction recovery support. Additionally there is quite a bit of relapse prevention coaching and support in the educational materials offered
here.
Early on in my personal journey back to the real me
something Joel
had written (one of several things actually) really stuck in my mind. It is contained in his article - "No thank you, I can't have a cigarette ". Man, did I say that to myself and others far too
many times each time I'd 'tried to quit' before discovering Freedom From Tobacco and the plain truth of my addiction depencency relationship
with nicotine. I never realized it back then but I believe that outlook of deprivation was at the core of my own repetitive undoing. I'd been
programmed to believe relapse was inevitable. Quitting Smoking was 'hard'. I'd need help of some sort, maybe a drug or gadget to help me
through the unending yearning for tobacco. That 'quitting' would be forever unbearable. Those are just some of the many lies - False associations -popularized in our popular beliefs with regard to ending the use of tobacco products.
something Joel
had written (one of several things actually) really stuck in my mind. It is contained in his article - "No thank you, I can't have a cigarette ". Man, did I say that to myself and others far too
many times each time I'd 'tried to quit' before discovering Freedom From Tobacco and the plain truth of my addiction depencency relationship
with nicotine. I never realized it back then but I believe that outlook of deprivation was at the core of my own repetitive undoing. I'd been
programmed to believe relapse was inevitable. Quitting Smoking was 'hard'. I'd need help of some sort, maybe a drug or gadget to help me
through the unending yearning for tobacco. That 'quitting' would be forever unbearable. Those are just some of the many lies - False associations -popularized in our popular beliefs with regard to ending the use of tobacco products.
The central message of Joel's reinforcement letter I reference was that we should NOT look at stopping tobacco use as 'Giving Up' anything. Quite the contrary. There need be no regret or feeling we are being deprived of something valuable when be BEGIN TO TRULY LIVE......... by stopping the deadly delivery of dose upon dose of an addictive substance - nicotine. That's why I knew early on I was not going to give up anything I liked prior to deciding I would no longer allow nicotine entry into my body again. I got rid of something harmful. I gave up nothing worthwhile.
Nope, we are doing ourselves a big favor by GETTING RID of nicotine and go on to a life of freedom , in control of our
chemical dependency.
"You don't 'Give up' smoking.
You get rid of it" - Joel
So those of you earlier on this path of Freedom, our shared road of recovery.......Don't Give Up! Get on with the rest of your life, live it as it was always meant to be lived - clean of nicotine and free to
choose. By the time I arrived here I'd already tried to smoke all of 'em and it darn near killed me - now I choose to smoke or chew none of 'em
by deciding to ntap - just for the rest of today.
Quite simply the best decision I can make today for the rest and best of my life.
Joe J Free & living comfortably nicotine free as I was supposed to be all along.
3 years, 3 months, 26 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes and 11 seconds (1211 days).
Decided to not purchase and consume 32723 deadly doses and saved $8,258.00 in my 'Freedom Dividend' account.
I've reclaimed 227 days, 5 hours and 50 minutes of my life to live as I choose which is the best part of this gift I give to myself each and every day I choose to NTAP!
I've reclaimed 227 days, 5 hours and 50 minutes of my life to live as I choose which is the best part of this gift I give to myself each and every day I choose to NTAP!
Edited by Joel to fix broken links for articles No thank you, I can't have a cigarette and Freedom - Your Journey to Comfort
yes, very good. Thanks JoeJ
Thanks JoeJ. I remember when I was
new here at Freedom and you had written about "putting down" nicotine. I could relate to that too. I just read an article in The New
Yorker and the author wrote about his experience as a smoker. He describe the end of his smoking career by saying he had
"finished with smoking". Today, that is how I feel.
