Day • 424 •
Some musings on freedom . . .
It is important to remember that freedom is never “free.” That is true regarding every venue of life, on a national scale and a personal level, but it is especially true regarding our quits. In other words, freedom has its costs.
All of us can remember the initial battle to kick nic out of our lives. The battle was in our faces; there was no way we were going to forget about the costs of freedom. But that was only part of the real battle. The most challenging part of quitting is to remain on top of it every day, to keep our intensity, to check our six, to never allow a touch of softness. The cost of our quits is to keep lean and to not grow fat. Here’s what Abraham Lincoln said about our nation just before the civil war: “On the question of liberty, as a principle, we are not what we have been. When we were the political slaves of King George, and wanted to be free, we called the maxim that ‘all men are created equal’ a self evident truth; but now when we have grown fat, and have lost all dread of being slaves ourselves, we have become so greedy to be masters that we call the same maxim ‘a self evident lie.’” The nation had lost its passion for freedom and therefore its strength to remain free. It had lost its modus operandi, the basic core of its freedom.
If we are not very, very careful, our quits can take on the same shabby structure. If you read any caver’s story, there is at least one common thread (and usually more). They became lazy; they took their quits for granted; they dropped their guard. They laid their “quit weapons” at the door, and like a lion in waiting the nic bitch pounced as they snoozed.
So take this as an indisputable truth: We will be free as long as we put forth effort to be free. Our freedom from nicotine isn’t gratis. It’s costly. It’s expensive. But it is worth the fight! Determine now to adhere to your purpose and you can remain the renewed you for the rest of your life. However, if you snooze and get lazy, you will lose the power of keeping your quit resolution – a decision (or indecision) you will regret all your life. Just ask any caver!
