The Most Important Skirmish

Regardless of how many skirmishes will be fought in any given war, the most important skirmish is always The Next One! This is especially true in kicking an addiction. We need to learn to view each withdrawal incident as a skirmish in a war. Why? Because when we attempt to kick an addiction, we are engaged in a war. A war of mind over matter with several prizes up for grabs. If we are the victor, we win back control over our lives, we win improved mental and physical health, we win a more stable personal financial environment, and more. Each withdrawal incident must be viewed and handled as a skirmish.

So why do I say that the next one is the most important one in the war? Because if we lose that skirmish, we lose that war and must begin anew. If we focus on winning each and every skirmish, we will ultimately win the war. Remember, the single most powerful trait in any individual is perseverance. In the battle between the stream and the stone, the stream will always win because every time it manages to roll the stone, a microscopic fleck of the stone is worn away. Ultimately, the boulder becomes a grain of sand as the eternal stream widens and deepens it’s channel.

When you think about giving-up, remember this quote: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

― Theodore Roosevelt