10 Benefits of Quitting Marijuana

I'm not at all shy to admit I was a regular pot smoker for over 7 years of my life. I smoked almost everyday because I enjoyed it. It was something that eased my mind and gave me a sense of relaxation. Over time however, I began to see that everything I thought I enjoyed about it was only an illusion. I was giving my power away to smoking weed. I thought I couldn't be happy, creative, or not stressed out without it. It became my "umbrella" so to speak. My protection and escape from reality. When you're doing something that's stagnating or destructive to you. There is always a little voice inside that will say things like, "why am I doing this?" or "I really need to stop doing this." It took me almost 3 years of ignoring that voice and giving excuses until I finally decided to say enough is enough. It definitely wasn't easy, I would try quitting, then a week later I would go back to smoking again. It took me around 5 attempts to quit, before I finally got to the point where I didn't want anything to do with it. I was always told marijuana isn't addictive and doesn't have withdrawal symptoms, but nothing is further from the truth. Granted, it's nothing like the harder drugs, but it is no doubt difficult to quit if you've been doing it for a long time. Don't let that discourage you though, it's only difficult for a short while, but it being difficult is necessary. Here's a list of 10 benefits of quitting marijuana that I noticed when I quit indefinitely. This isn't meant to discriminate against anyone, if you smoke weed and it isn't affecting your life in a negative way, fine. I would still encourage you to stop using for at least 30 days, and see for yourself if it truly isn't though. My only hope is that this will inspire someone, and help them continue in their growth without being dependent on something outside of themselves. 1. Increased Dream Recall This is the first thing you will notice, and it will literally be within days. When I smoked weed I could hardly ever remember my dreams. When I finally quit my dreams were so intense that it was startling at first. I hadn't dreamt like that in so long it took me a little while to get used to it. After I'd say a week or two, it will be normal and you'll start to look forward to it. The thought about remembering your dreams and figuring out what they mean will excite you. You really can learn a lot by looking into the deeper, symbolic meaning your dreams have. 2. Increased Creativity One of my favorite things to do was to smoke weed and play guitar. I thought I was so creative when I did, and it got to the point where I thought I couldn't enjoy playing without smoking first. Words can't even describe how big of an illusion that was. I was literally giving my creative power away to something else, some drug. When I finally quit smoking and that brain fog lifted, after about 1 month my creativity increased ten-fold. I was ten times more creative on the guitar, my other talents, and enjoyed doing them more tha I ever did before. 3. Increased Energy After I quit smoking I noticed a tremendous increase in energy. I wasn't able to just sit around doing nothing anymore, I HAD to get out and do something. When I smoked I was content with just "hanging out", and not being very productive. Smoking and being in that "happy" state made it so I didn't care about procrastinating. After I quit, I was exercising more, getting out of bed earlier, was more focused throughout the day, and finally started getting the things done that I had been putting off for so long. My sex drive increased as well...which I can't say is a bad thing. 4. No Dependency As a chronic smoker, I literally couldn't go ANYWHERE without wanting to smoke first. I was at the point to where I thought I couldn't enjoy doing anything without being high. I was dependent on something other than myself to be happy, to enjoy life. Nothing is more dis-empowering than that. We don't need to be dependent on ANYTHING outside of ourselves to be happy, it is only an illusion and nothing else. 5. More Money! I was spending a good $300 or more per month to fund my habit. That's what it costs to pay rent for a lot of people. That extra money has gone a LONG way to towards things which actually have real meaning. 6. Improved Memory This was a big one for me. When I smoked daily, I was struggling to remember things I did even a couple days back. Specific details about interactions with people were always lost. It was as if there was a constant fog inside my mind. When I quit, it took about 2 months for that fog to finally lift. I started to see and think clearly, and being able to remember specific details. My short-term memory improved ten-fold as did my critical thinking ability. 7. More Proactive and Inspired I was always a person who was content with just following someone else and just taking the easy route. I would always just read other peoples work, then wait for them to teach me something else. I never tried to learn something on my own or contribute. I was fine with just playing other peoples music on the guitar, as opposed to actually working and creating my own. After being off weed, that all changed. I started becoming a proactive person, rather than a reactive person. To my amazement, it all started to come easy! Where as writing music was a struggle before, I would start getting inspired and could write whole songs within a short period of time. You'll naturally start to become inspired and WANT to create and contribute to what you believe in. I must also mention that it's very probable I wouldn't have started this website had I not quit. 8. Health My overall health took an amazing turn when I quit. I could breath twice as deep as before, my throat no longer feels agitated all the time, and my diet improved because I didn't have the munchies all the time, giving in to junk food. My skin complexion improved, and my sweat didn't smell as bad. Writing that just reminded me of a very important point. My ability to not give into temptation increased as well. Not just with junk food, but with many other things. I was able to remain steadfast and firm in my beliefs without cowering away. 9. More balanced mood As a regular smoker my moods would constantly fluctuate. I would go from happy and calm (when high), to having even the smallest things frustrate and ruin my whole day out of no-where. I was always in this tennis ball affect being hit back and forth. Being high was the only way to avoid that. When I first quit, this got worse. I stayed in the angry and frustrated stage for a good 2 months. Not having something to negate that affect, and put me back into a "happy state" was really hard. Staying strong and committed, this started going away little by little to where I'm more balanced with my moods, and they aren't so sudden and extreme. 10. Less Paranoia Smoking weed creates a lot of paranoia and anxiety in people, which is a fear vibration. Fear vibrations do nothing but dis-empower you, they're disconnections from your spirit. When you're connected to spirit, there's nothing to fear, because you know you can handle anything that comes your way, and do it intelligently. If ANYTHING you do creates ANY type of fear vibration in you, that's a clear message that you need to stop doing it. Conclusion Quitting marijuana has led to some profound positive changes in my life. It wasn't easy at times, but I am so much happier without it. There are definitely some detox symptoms when you quit. For me it was headaches, back and shoulder pain, anxiety, and anger. Be ready for them, but they don't last long. The benefits of quitting, and the detox symptoms will be different for everyone, if you have anything you'd like to add, please tell us in the comments section.