My Eleventh, Twelfth And Thirteenth Day

Hey everybody!
So I did predict right that the weekend was too exhausting to find the time in between to write any posts.
But now I actually came to notice that I've almost gone through 2 whole weeks without smoking. Did you already?
If so, you may pat yourself on the back; although you're not free from nicotine craving yet - you sure already got somewhere by now.
And at this point, you should start evaluating:
How much money have you saved?
How much healthier do you look?
And more important: How much healthier do you feel?
I for one noticed that had already saved enough money to buy myself a new DVD. Just after two weeks, and I wasn't even a heavy smoker.
Then, I noticed my skin looking smoother than before; the colour is already a little more even. In addition, the rings under my eyes are starting to disappear.
And also, I feel much healthier. Getting up in the morning has been a lot easier the last few days, and I also feel less exhausted while watching TV.
So you might say - considering all those advantages you gain even after quitting for a short while - how could I not consider myself free from desire for smoking?
Well, just because it got easier dealing with quitting doesn't mean it's over.
You probably still remember the smell of tobacco and the brief tranquillity of smoking. And you're not done with it until you practically forgot about those.
Quitting the smoke is a long road. You'll most probably still have to struggle after the 30 days.
But as I mentioned before; Quitting is not easy, nor is it supposed to be that.
Life IS struggle. You'll always face challenges.
The living are not designed to be content with everything.
Of course you can be content with your family, your relationship, or even just with watching your favourite TV show and eating a nice meal. But being fully content with EVERYTHING is impossible.
And that is why we are alive.
Imagine: if the first creatures ever were content with their life, they most probably wouldn't have bothered to mate, and we wouldn't have ever existed.
We are supposed to run so we can pass on the torch. It may seem weird that we race for something we will never reach personally and most probably mankind won't ever reach as well. But we don't lose. We would lose if we stopped running and eventually died with the extinguishing torch in our hand, never to be passed on.
So keep your eyes out on what's ultimately best, not proximately.
It's not important that you ease up for 5 minutes, but rather that you feel healthy, save money, live longer and not poison the ones around you.
You just have to know that you're making the right choice here. There's other less invasive and unhealthy ways to calm down and relax. Those vary from person to person, but examples are music (listening to or playing), literature, TV, (healthy) food (especially cooking gourmet meals - get a nice cook book or sign up for a cooking class) card games, spending time with people important to you or whatever your hobby is.
Just remember you have the power, and that you should grasp it and use it to it's full potential. Grab that torch and run!