WE'VE KEPT STILL FOR ENOUGH PHOTOS -
NOW TELLING YOU DEFINITELY NO MORE!!!!!
It’s a regular thing for me to walk to work. I do it every day and funny I also walk home again at the end of my working day. I’ve always thought that I wasn’t rich but strange how you can change your mind or perhaps that should be having it changed for you by the simplest of things.
I’m always awake by 5 am and I usually get out of bed by 5.15 and do the usual things, have a wash, put some clothes on and make the first cuppa of the day. Always has to be tea for me as I’ve never really got into coffee. First brew always has half a spoon of sugar in but the rest of the day, no sugar and just a drop or two of milk, my idea of heaven. Put the tv on and sit and drink whilst looking at the pictures on the screen as unfortunately, even with my hearing aids in, it’s not very often I can hear what they say and I don’t really want it loud enough so that I can listen as that loud it would disturb himself and I like to let him sleep a bit because basically, I like this time in the morning to myself with just the dogs for company. Have usually drunk up by 5.30‘ish so then I get myself and the dogs ready to go for a walk. Absolutely love this time of day even if it’s raining as there’s usually no-one else about and you can walk as slow or as fast as you like because you are in no hurry whatsoever. You’ve time to stand if you want, to look at things you don’t normally see if you’re in a car but most of all, this time of year you can hear the birds talking to each other and basically the world waking up slowly and majestically and you can witness this for absolutely no cost whatsoever – it’s actually FREE and that isn’t just today, it’s every single day and that also includes weekends!!! You can see all the flowers in their glory for example this morning, we had a frost last night but did that put a damper on the daffodils and grape hyacinth – definitely not. The forsythia is so gorgeous this year – the yellow is so vivid it’s like looking at bright sunshine on a bush and there seems to be more flowers this year than I’ve ever seen before. Pansies, hyacinth, tulips to name but three all with beautiful colours that are so bright they are dazzling. It’s like they’re saying “look at me” and they are right, we should all stop and look at the beauty that surrounds us and is so close to us that we can, should we wish, physically touch it. How many of us take the time to appreciate the new dawn? Not many I’m fairly certain. Even the leaves on the plants seem greener than normal which may be due to the ‘bad’ winter we have had as after all the snow whatever colour shows is very welcome isn’t it? The buds on the trees are trying to open and how many of us looked at the plants, shrubs and trees in our own garden and thought to ourselves, gosh I hope they survive this winter weather. It just goes to show to me anyway that we humans are not the only “tough cookies” on planet earth. We all have to be tough but that doesn’t mean to say that we can’t be beautiful and appreciate what is beautiful. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder or so they say and beauty goes beyond how we look – I firmly believe that it actually goes through to the soul. Never judge a book by its cover and the same can be said about beauty – if we were each asked to define beauty then we would have many different answers I am sure.
Some 2.1/2 hours after setting off with my dogs, I set off to walk to my work. My route to work is completely in the opposite direction to the route I go with my dogs. I actually head towards the village that I live on the outskirts of but again, there is beauty this way also. There is a park – only a small one I grant you but still a park – there are a couple of swings and a slide and a climbing frame with beautiful gardens. We’re lucky as so far, it seems not to have been spoilt by the minority. The beds have just been planted a couple of weeks ago with polyanthus and what an absolutely stunning display they make. There are colours that you cannot really describe – a shade that is not orange, not apricot, not peach just the most beautiful colour you can imagine. Everywhere is starting to be tinged with green be it the leaves on the trees or the leaves of the plants there is no sign of the drabness that was winter. I walk over a bridge that spans a reasonably sized river and the water is so crystal clear that you can actually see the pebbles on the river bed. Even here, the ducks swim so nonchalantly like they have all the time in the world and they have – it is us humans that seem to want to rush everywhere and do everything double quick. We really should learn how to take things easy – life is for living not for rushing – we could all learn from the plants and animals around us. Remember, the important thing in life is YOU so try to make your life easier and far more pleasant. Easier said than done I know but try it for a few minutes every day – take time out for yourself as you deserve it – do one of EmJay’s breathing exercises just because you can and rejoice in how good your life is and think how you can make it better for you and those that are loved by and are dear to you.
One thing we can do to improve not only our lives but also the lives of those around us is to quit smoking. This does have many, many benefits including but not limited to our health and wealth. Not smoking means that we can go for a walk and really look at what we see. We don’t have to feel like a pariah – have you ever noticed that if you’re somewhere and you step outside for a cigarette every single person seems to be looking at you? Do they feel sorry for you or do they see you as a mug because you’re paying for the privilege of killing yourself? Or do they see you as someone who’s draining the NHS? Makes you wonder or it does me anyway.
There are two things about smoking that I am sure we can agree on and this is firstly, it is so very, very easy and simple to start and secondly, why, oh why, is it so damned hard to stop? I suppose that both are facts of life – and life is definitely, positively not easy. Easy and hard the two seem to come hand-in-hand and I do sometimes wish that they were vice versa. Difficult to start and easy to stop – wouldn’t life be grand if it were that simple? Well, unfortunately it isn’t that way round and therefore it is a fact of life that nothing ever has or will come easy and the more we try to tell ourselves that we don’t want to do this anymore, the more a little voice will whisper in our ear ‘Oh yes you doo! You know you do, don’t you?’
We have to be so strong – where do we find the strength from? However many days ago you quit, going back to the beginning, would you honestly have believed then that you were strong enough to get this far? We dig deep into reserves that we never knew we had. We join a forum of like-minded people who support us throughout our journey. They are always there for us, their faith in our ability to quit never wavers and we in turn draw strength from this and begin to believe in ourselves. We find that helping others that want to travel the same road actually helps us – we all remember how it was in the beginning – scared but never, ever alone. Over time, our membership grows as does our strength. Our belief in the forum; ourselves and all others knows no boundary and together our determination to win will be successful. Success however will definitely not be the end it will be the beginning of our smoke free life, it will enable us to make even more friends through the forum as there will regrettably always be others who join to quit. We can help those people as we ourselves were helped as we will be forever on this journey as I do firmly believe that I will always be a smoker who chooses NOT to smoke.
So why am I rich especially beyond my wildest dreams? Well, firstly because I am alive. Secondly, because I know I am alive and every day that I am alive and smoke free I aim to make the most of. Thirdly, because I did something that was 100% for and about me. As I am alive, I can appreciate everything about life – the good and the bad as without the bad how would we know what is good as everything would be exactly the same? I am able to do things, see things and hear (not everything but enough) things. I can read, I can knit and I can blog. I can see beauty in most everything because I want to – the birds, bees and even ants (which I absolutely detest) but they are part and parcel of what makes our world the place it is. I can make a conversation, I can listen to a piece of music and I can use ‘sign’ language to ‘speak’ to others who, like me, are partially deaf and some who are totally deaf. I am able to learn because I have a brain and just because it is old doesn’t mean that it cannot learn new things. I intend to seek out a course that will teach me proper sign language so that when I do eventually lose all my hearing (as I am told I will in all probability within the next couple of years) then at least I will be able to communicate to some extent with others.
To quit smoking for any other reason than yourself is, in my personal opinion, doomed to failure before you’ve left the starting gate so to speak. You and you alone have to want to quit – in the same way that no one can quit for you no one can make you quit. You have to be 100% behind the fact that you are doing this for you!! To take this journey, you have to be selfish there are no ifs, buts of maybes; you are the most important part of this journey. Your health, your wealth and your longevity are the main factors of this quit so you have to be 100% committed to wanting to do this for you.
There are some that will have already made this journey by themselves and there are others making this journey alone but they are very brave and very fortunate and I do wish them every success. Personally, having found this site and been embraced into the family, I definitely don’t want to leave. It feels right to be here and everyone (or most everyone) has been so welcoming and supportive. To make this journey with you all is a privilege that I feel very lucky to have been able to do – my journey is far from over but with your help, I will be successful. No matter that this may be my third attempt in the space of a few weeks your support, understanding and help has been absolutely superb and I, personally, cannot thank you enough.
Day 4 comes to a close and with it my hope that you all have a wonderful evening after the beautiful day and the forecast is for it to last over the weekend and bank holiday so yippee – grab a bucket and spade or some such and make the most of it as this could well be our summer (sorry!).
FRIDAY TOMORROW – "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (match that one if you can Monky!)
Take care all
Luv and a hug
Kath
Maybe "the girl who gave up smoking"? 
Number 1 best seller me thinks 
You really do describe things so well and this brings to life your story and I am sure that those who do choose to read it really do feel like they have just taken the walk themselves 
I made it to my first month!
I’m new here and I have to quit smoking for my health 
🌎💙Daily Chat Friday 23rd August 2019💙🌍