There’s Never Been a Better Time To Quit

Wow, with all of the doom and gloom, sometimes I just want to curl under my sheets in bed and start sucking my thumb! I can’t stand to watch the news any more; how about you? Sheesh. And if I see one more “poor” former billionaire being relegated to a pauper millionaire I’m going to get physically ill. And did you know? The auto makers really mean it now when they say, “There’s Never Been a Better Time To Buy!”

Well I can tell you that as far as I’m concerned, there HAS been a better time to buy and its been when I actually had money to buy something with. We’re all probably in the same boat relatively speaking. Everybody is hurting in this economy. It sucks. It’s time to circle the wagons, get all of your ducks in a row…pick your analogy but if you’re like most people, you’re under a lot of stress to make sure that you make any changes necessary to protect your piggy bank. That means that you should be doing a lot more than simply cutting out the netflix monthly membership. For some, this economy has forced people to take a good, hard look at everything they do and perhaps make some serious, long-term lifestyle changes. This can be a good thing. From the title of this post, you can see where I’m going right?

When I was addicted to pain killers, I was one of the “lucky” ones. My pills were prescribed in vast enough quantities that I didn’t need to doctor-shop or worse, buy my pills off the street. For many of you, there’s no choice really. There’s that guy on speed dial that you call up and he sells you some Oxy’s at the market rate which can be really really expensive. Even though I was one of those “lucky” ones, I still estimate that I spent about $300-$400 per month on my Norcos. You know, with the co-pays and simply the sheer volume of pills, the insurance company would only pay for so many.

Insurance Company: “What?? 270 pills for a 2 week period??”

Walgreens Guy: “Yup…270 QID PER SIG blah blah”

Insurance Company: “Are we covering just one person or an entire community of chronic pain sufferers? We’ll pay…um…$40…just tell the customer it’s too early to pick up or something like that”

So even with my prescribed, insured medications, it was pricey for me. I can’t even imagine how much my habit would have cost had I been obliged to buy them on the street.

So the auto dealerships are right when they say “There’s Never Been a Better Time.” Right now is a time when one (myself included) has got to look at every facet of their life and find way to improve, streamline and consolidate. It doesn’t mean that you simply take away everything enjoyable in your life but I do think it’s a time to be introspective about how you live your life and how you are going to make a difference for not only yourself, but those around you. I can understand that right now, taking your pills might seem like the ONLY thing that keeps you going and the only thing that brings you satisfaction but you’re wrong. And you know you are. Your addiction is taking a toll that you simply cannot afford…especially right now.

You have got to get rid of your depression, your moodiness, your lack of energy and your single-mindedness of purpose because you will not be able to perform with all of those things weighing down on you. Yeah, everything is tough right now and exascerbating the problem by quitting pills doesn’t seem too appetizing to you I’m sure. But this is actually the perfect opportunity to really take a look at how you are living and how much you are (or aren’t) contributing to the success, well-being, health and happiness of those you love.

By quitting now, not only will you save tons of money, but you’ll be investing in yourself and your future. You’ll be more productive at work and if you don’t have work, well you’ll be a more enthusiastic and attractive job candidate when you’re not all droopy on pain killers.  So you see, although this economy stinks, there are things you can do right now that will not only drastically cut your expenses, but more importantly, make you more vital and strong for what lies ahead. Now that’s just good common sense.

Oh and also, you’ll be happier, have less moodiness, enjoy things more, have more energy, have a clearer head and generally have a more pleasant life…

-G