162 days ago, I embarked on an adventure to free myself from addiction. Many times before Ive attempted and succeeded only to fail a week or two down the road because I thought I could do "just one more for old times sake." Every single time that I failed it was because that thought had entered into my mind. The thought still enters my head to this very day, not frequently but its still there. Every action, every thing you see surrounding you at this very moment was created first by thought. We as humans have a very powerful imagery tool that can lead us to great success or great loss; the mind is this tool.
Once I grasped onto the concept that WE create our life based on our own thoughts i realized why I failed before numerous times. It was because I had seen myself failing before I actually did. I allowed the thought of "just one more" grow, just as a plant seed does, until finally that thought had become a reality. Once I caught on that our thought patterns determine where we will be in the future I begun to change. Every time a negative thought had entered my head that I would not be able to succeed with my goal I immediately changed that thought into one of victory, one of success. Once I began thinking about these positive images over and over the belief had taken root that I would succeed and that I would overcome my addiction.
Many people go on about how their lives arent what they want them to be but fail to realize that somewhere along the line we created our own environment. In the end what we believe is exactly what we are going to see. This concept sounded out there at first when I had heard it; I took it all to be a bunch of mumbo jumbo that was similar to the snake oil salesman in the old days. My physchology teacher introduced me to the concept and gave me a challenge of changing my thought patterns to match exactly what I WANT and to rid my mind of thoughts of things that I do NOT want. For 30 days I went about this challenge, the first week, nothing changed. The second, not a damn thing changed. But lo and behold that 3rd week everything I had imagined had taken its place in my mind as a seed and began to grow. During this time I had been single for a year and was still hung up on my ex, thoughts of self pity and failure crept into my mind for the longest time and I allowed myself to believe the bullshit my mind was spewing out. I gave the challenge a try and would visualize every single night that I was the happiest man alive and would thank God for the incredible woman he had sent me (at this time I was still single) sure enough that 3rd week into the challenge I met the girl of dreams and were still together 1 1/2 years later.
The point of this story is not to bore you with how to succeed or fail, the point is to introduce you to yourself. To allow your thoughts to work for you and not against you. Every time I compete I visualize the fight beforehand. I see myself moving fluently, and performing to the best of my ability. Ill do this thousands of times before the event takes place, I imagine the smells, the sights, the sounds, every last little detail. Then once its time to perform I can allow myself to freely do because Ive been there many of times before in my mind. The mind is the most effective tool we have when it comes to addiction.
I began dipping at the age of 14; I am now 20. The past 6 years have taken a toll on my gums and health. 162 days ago I decided to attempt a new challenge, one that I am still going through today. Every once in awhile thoughts of dip will creep into my mind but because of God who gives me the strength and a poweful mind I will continue laying the smackdown on the nic bitch every single day.
Id like to give a big thanks to every single quitter on this site and around the world, each and everyone of you are powerful beyond measure and give me along with many others the fuel to continue our battle. A special shout out also to the April 2012 quit group, you guys are awesome and some of the most ruthless,toughest s.o.b's I know. Last and certainly not least a big thank you to my friend CoachSteve. During my first few weeks here Id post roll whenever I felt like it, steve calledme out on this and offered his number so I could text my roll post each day. Theres been many of times Ive came close to losing this challenge but because of my promise to my fellow quitters I kept on with the fight.
162 days ago I was scouring the Hall of Fame section visualizing that I too would one day post a speech and give hope and inspiration to someone who was in the same sinking boat I was in 162 days ago. If your thinking about giving quitting a shot, dont think twice, do it! You are all powerful beyond measure and will succeed each and every time you BELIEVE. In the words of Albert Einstein "Imagination is everything; it is the preview of life's coming attractions."
-Rob Meade
