Becoming the new Non-smoker in your social group is hard. It is especially hard when you are one of one, and everyone else is trying to understand why you have made the decision to quit. Often, you will have one person who speaks for the group, while they hold their cigarettes and stare at you.
Stand Up for Yourself
You should know, first off, this is not a fair situation. It is truly mean that you have to be caught in the middle of being in this position, with your hands tied behind your back, so to say. When you have many people who do not understand your non-smoking life, you need to let them grow into the idea, and simply stay where you are, for you. Do not moan and groan about how unfair it is, but simply understand that it is. You are going to have to be the strong one here, and it will take some effort on your part to stick with your guns, and let them get used to the new path that you have chosen. There is no reason to become someone other than who you are, and the group will have to learn how to adjust to your new life.
Soon, one of the pack will decide to be brave, and attempt to understand why you are quitting. It is your break, and you now have the chance to explain what you know, and what your friend does not. Remember, you have learned the most valuable thing about life, that you were not gaining anything by being a smoker, and it will be very alluring to your friends. They will want to learn more, and it will be confusing to them.
Use this time to explain how you are tired of chasing the demon, and letting him rule your days and nights. That you have expired the notion that you enjoyed smoking, when you never really did. The fact that you have quit, you now have no nicotine cravings, just the mental challenges, will be another reality that your friends will need to understand.
All of this is very sexy to smokers. They can not understand often the basic premise of the quit. Or the fact, that you really have to want to quit to make it happen. It is not a journey, or a path, but a stand against the past mental processes, and and a new way of thinking. A new way of life, and a greatness that is growing within you.
Do not stop, do not cringe or regret, and you will encompass something your friends will have never seen from you before, a powerful and new person.
