Does Change Make You Feel Anxious?

Quitting with Intention

9/21/2025

I’ve learned that quitting something rarely works if you just… quit.
It’s so much easier and honestly, so much more empowering when you quit with intention.

What I mean by that is if you’re giving something up, you’ve got to replace it with something else or at least have a mindful plan in place. Otherwise, you’ll almost always end up going back to the very thing you wanted to leave behind.

When I came home from surgery, I was prescribed meds for pain. I didn’t like how they made me feel, the side effects, the fogginess. the hallucinations and I worried about addiction, given both my family history and my own past tendencies. Within a week, I decided to stop. But here’s the truth, I couldn’t have stopped that quickly if I hadn’t already prepared a plan. I leaned on essential oils, natural supports, and tools that got me through the pain and discomfort. Without that replacement, I probably would have kept taking the meds just to cope.

It’s the same with breaking up with social media. If I hadn’t created Stream with Hart as my new home for expression and connection, I know I would’ve slipped right back into old patterns of posting on platforms that didn’t really feel good to me. And even with this shift, I still get the urge to scroll. That’s why I made myself a list of things to do when that craving hits so I have options other than falling into the doom-scroll trap.

This applies to so many areas of life. If you want to quit drinking, don’t just say, “I have to quit drinking”. Explore what you’ll replace it with. Try fun infused waters, invest in a reverse osmosis or hydrogen water system, play around with natural flavor combinations. That way, quitting isn’t about deprivation or weakness, it’s about choosing something that moves you closer to the life you want to live.

Quitting with intention shifts the whole experience. It turns “giving up” into gaining something better.