Cold Turkey
Cold turkey, as far as I have read, is a thing we go through when we are giving up on some drug or alcohol. I read it in the novel SHANTARAM by Gregory David Roberts where the protagonist Lindsay goes through Cold turkey to overcome his heroin addiction. In the book, it lasted for like 2 weeks and till that time his body was very weak. He was having a constant fever and shivering all the time. It’s a time when your body stops working properly when you don’t give it something that it wants. Something it has got addicted to.
But, does Cold turkey exists only when you stop using a drug or drinking alcohol? Or does it happen some other time too? Like when you suddenly stop talking to someone. Or seeing and meeting them. Or you most probably leave them.
Yes, it does. It does when you stop giving your heart the company of the person you love the most and care about a lot. After all, getting attached to people is also like an addiction. And when you lose contact or deliberately sever all ties, not only our body, but our mind and soul also go through a bad phase of Cold turkey.
You feel weak, irritated and angry. Frustrated too. And you keep on thinking about the next dose so that you don’t have to suffer anymore. Just like heroin addicts. They go through Cold turkey, always thinking about the next shot, so that all of the pain can go away. Some people give up and go for that shot. The ones, who endure, come out clean and cleansed. It is for sure that they won’t touch that drug anymore.
Cold turkey in the case of people lasts longer. Way more than 2 weeks. But if you can make it till the first 3months, there is a maximum chance of you making it till the end. But trust me; it’s the worst Cold turkey anyone ever faces. That is the reason; people go back to their old relationships, even if they are miserable in it. Because they cannot tolerate Cold turkey. They constantly miss the company of the person they are addicted too.
I am going through Cold turkey of the worst kind at the moment. Someone I love a lot has hurt me in a bad way. I have taken a stand for myself saying that this time it’s enough. I can’t live like this anymore and that its time to move on. Move on to something better and fulfilling. But this Cold turkey is shaking my decision. It is not allowing me to move on easily. I cry every day and feel lost. Nothing seems good. It’s as if I am a gramophone record and I have got stuck on a particular beat. Many times I just feel like ending this temporary pain by giving up my stand for myself and go back. Go back to that someone for whom I am nothing.
But every day I resist it by saying to myself that it’ll pass. And so it will. Nothing in life, no relationship, is greater than your self-respect. I think we should all believe in it and move on. Yes, Cold turkey is tough. But, it’s temporary. It’ll pass. Don’t choose the longtime pain over the short time one.
Thank you