Jacques Anatole Fran�ois Thibault, pen name, Anatole France, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921, is credited with the following:
[b][color=blue]All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.[/color][/b]
What a powerful statement. When a smoker decides to quit, they change their life. Little do most quitters know or realize what extent those changes will truly entail. Here, Anatole tells of dying to one life before we can enter another.
I have often advised new quitters that they need to accept their addiction and learn how to live a new, smoke free life. However, based on many posts I see here, many struggle with that concept. They want to somehow hold onto that old life, either out of fear or lack of courage to accept changes to their lives. Many also fight their changes and are never satisfied with their lot in life as a non smoker. Those often relapse due to still wanting to live the life of a smoker, a life they knew all so well, even though they know inside it�s really a hideous addiction.
Here is the key. [b][color=black]�[/color][color=blue]we must die to one life before we can enter another.[/color][color=black]�[/color][/b] The death of a smoker. Casting off that which is no longer a part of ones life must occur before we can fully enter into the life of a non smoker. There in lies the mind set of the successful quitter, as I see it. The long term quitter has discarded their old life. It is no longer even remotely a part of their life. It has died. When the funeral was is unique to each long term quitter, but there is a moment when it happens. At that moment they step through the passage into their new, non smoking life.
Do not fear change. Do not fear the death of the smoker. Like the proverbial Phoenix that rose from the ashes, the non smoker rises from the ashes of their past, stronger and better than ever.
[b][color=Purple]Be Strong. Be Smart. Be Quit[/color]
[color=black]Joe[/color]
[size=3][color=Blue]Knowledge Replaces Fear[/color][/size]
[size=2][color=purple]Hoping for success without hard work is like trying to harvest without planting.[/color][/size]
[size=2][color=b
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Quit Meter
$36,542.40
Amount Saved
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Quit Meter
Days: 9391
Hours: 21
Minutes: 30
Seconds: 21
Life Gained
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Quit Meter
45678
Smoke Free Days
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Quit Meter
365,424
Cigarettes Not Smoked