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this is your sign.

childhood ends twice: the day you learn to pick up the drug (day 1) and the day you set it down (day 0). learning how to set down the drug happens after you quit, and not a day earlier. it’s learning how to choose something else, each and every day thereafter. day 1 is an unconscious goodbye; day 0 is a conscious one.

day 0 encapsulates that entire chapter of your life so you can begin to properly grieve childhood, together with its end. you find out who you really are and what your life is actually like only after setting down the old coping mechanisms; this is when real adulthood begins. you go from unconscious to conscious, and on to expanding that consciousness.

this can’t happen if you’re still turning to the old behaviors you used to survive childhood to now get over that childhood. it won’t work. your past will continue to visit you, and old triggers will keep dredging up the same responses until you acknowledge their presence, thank them for serving you and your story, finally letting them move through you and out.

you know your life is about to get really good when the old coping mechanisms stop working. they stop working when you realize you need more and more. they stop working when you realize they aren’t even as effective or enjoyable as they used to be. this is your exact opportunity to set them down and turn it all around. that moment is your sign.