Article September 8, 2003 Issue

a change in thought brings freedom from addiction

By Glynis Burgdorff

Have YOU EVER been determined to break some habit, only to find that a few days later you have picked it right back up again—sort of like yet another failed New Year's resolution?

Quitting smoking many years ago taught me a wonderful lesson about the strength and grace any of us can find when we are willing to let go of what I call our "horrible habits" through yielding to God's power and grace—as opposed to the failure, frustration, and disappointment so many of us have experienced when we started from the standpoint of our own strength, our own resolve.

I began smoking in high school, and by the time I was in college I was addicted. Smoking was one of the first things I did in the morning, the last thing I did at night. It seemed to be completely entwined with my identity. I smoked on the phone. I smoked while laughing with friends, listening to music in the car, before and after meals. Certainly I couldn't go through a crisis without a cigarette—and forget pulling an all-nighter without smoking.

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