Posted 30 March 2015 - 09:14 AM by hermine (qsmb)

 

Quitting smoking leaves us with a terrible emptiness that, for a while, we don't know exactly how to handle. And we may even ask ourselves if we will ever be able to fill these voids with anything. What helped me to get over this was eventually understanding that the source of the problem wasn't the absence of cigarettes, but the mere existence of those terrible feelings I was dealing with. 

 

They were there all along, but I was trying to cover them all up with smoke... The moment I stopped smoking, I started to realize and acknowledge all those things that were wrong in my life and I've been trying to get rid of by hiding behind a curtain of cigarette smoke. But they didn't disappear, they have been watching me silently and now, as the smoke cleared, we are starting to make eye contact again. Should I light a cigarette so I become blind again? Or should I finally tackle the beasts? The answer is clear. I will attack.

 

So ask yourself, as you are ripped by this feeling of emptiness: is it ok that a small piece of paper filled with tobacco has become such an important part of my life? Is it ok that I have become emotionally attached to a small piece of paper filled with tobacco?!

 

Don't hide behind the curtain of smoke again. Don't choose to run again. Make the most of the fact that you are finally capable to see your life as it really is and you finally have the chance to fill those voids. Fill your short and precious life with people, places, hobbies and knowledge. Put things that actually matter inside those voids, because blowing smoke inside them will never, ever, make them disappear.

Edited February 13, 20224 yr by jillar

This is right whete i am at. Thx.

Here here Jillar. Well said. 

Bump

Bump 😊

@jillarThanks for the bump.  I had not ever read this post.  It is so true, I do feel empty and lost now that I am a nonsmoker.  I am on the path and I have the map that so many have shared here. I know the way, just keep walking forward.

I too found this post very helpful. It's as if I sit here wondering what to do with myself. Must be careful as it's these voids that create junky thoughts to creep in. I am going to venture out after these three days of freedom surpass and get me a jigsaw puzzle to keep both my mind and hands busy.