Since I haven't introduced myself, I figured this could be a intro/HOF speech. I'm actually breaking out the laptop for this one which leads me to an initial thought. I do 95% of all my activity here on an S6 Active. Is it a pain in the ass? Yeah, sometimes. But it obviously works just fine. So when I see the "Sorry I'm late, my computer was........" or "I didn't have internet" comments, I get a little aggravated. Yeah, I know some of you take trips into the Bermuda Triangle but the rest of you, stop with the lame excuses. O.K., back to the task at hand:
So first, my name is Tyler and I've chewed since my junior year of High School. Unlike a lot of people, I wasn't really pressured into it, a friend asked me one night if I wanted to try it and I said "why not". After about 5 minutes I felt like I'd been on the worlds most insane roller coaster so why in the hell would a person ever go back for seconds? Well, obviously I did and here I am, 25 years later.
Over these last 25 years, I've managed to stop for over a year twice, and 3 years one time. I gave up the 3 year run in order to make a fishing outing just a little better (I guess being outdoors fishing just wasn't good enough for my addicted mind). I thought I'd been good and had the addiction kicked so a pouch of Redman wouldn't be able to break me. Hell, I didn't even really like loose leaf tobacco so it was going to be no problem. Everyone who's reading this knows how that always turns out. So, here I am.
I'd found this website years ago but never pulled the trigger to sign up. I figured I had stopped on my own before, I could do it again. Well, after a few years of stopping and starting again I thought "why not", if it makes it just a little easier it's worth it. So, I signed up, joined the Space Force of July and kicked some nicotine ass.............for 33 days. Then, like so many others, I had a "long work day" and poof, flushed 33 days down the toilet.
During those first 33 days I hadn't given my number out to anyone. I'm somewhat reserved when it comes to giving out personal info (big brother and all that). Luckily, there are those of you out there who aren't the paranoid nut job I can be. You reached out to a caving loser and helped me back up and got me back on roll right away. A big thank you to Athan and Bicycleptic. I work 2300-0700, which makes it easy to use the "No one's up to reach out to" excuse. Well, these two keep some similar hours and weren't going to let that excuse fly. During a particularly rough night, Athan gave me a call within minutes of me posting how crappy I was feeling. Is it going to feel weird talking to someone you've never met? Uhhh, yeah. For about 2 or 3 minutes. Then you realize these guys and gals know exactly what you're going through and aren't going to axe murder you. Probably. Lemongolfballs, I'm not so sure.
So here I am 100 days in with the August Knights, a group of tough ass quitters in it for the long haul. As I was in bed last night trying to think of something really compelling to write, I began thinking about this being day 100. And then I realized 100 is great and all but in reality, Day 2, 3 and 4 are some serious milestones. To make it past those are bigger milestones than a 100. At those numbers you're still mumbling to yourself, yelling at the neighborhood kids for walking on the sidewalk too loud, trying to make a chew replacement that tastes good and generally just trying to figure out what the hell is going on. By day 100, most of us have at least gotten the cravings under control, figured out we have to use the phone numbers, don't have headaches every 4 minutes and are generally feeling pretty good about life. At day 100, complacency is our biggest threat. At day 3, a weird shaped cloud may push you over the edge.
So, to any of you reading this who don't have numbers, get them. They are your life line and may save your quit. At day 100 or 1,000, we are all one bad choice away from a day 1 again. You also need to realize you are addicted, an addict. I had never even remotely thought about myself as an addict on my previous attempts. It was just a "habit" I needed to kick, back then. Thinking of myself as an addict and my now hatred for tobacco have helped immensely. At day 50 it was as if a switch in my head turned on and I immediately had an intense hatred for tobacco. I don't know why or what did it, but it's there and I love it. I've been told by others that they have experienced this as well. It's an awesome thing, you'll know it when it happens.
ODAAT, I'm proud to be here with everyone. See you tomorrow for another day of The Quit Life.
