Well I figured I would put into words the road I took to get where I am.
This is in no way a post of excuses to say "This is why I was a chewer" or anything of the sort. I take full responsibility for my choices, and just think I need to put it all into words.
So with that said take this however you would like.
I can still remember the day I first tried chew, it's like it was yesterday. I was rollerblading with a friend of mine in high school, he and I were going down the road and another friend from school came driving by. He stopped to talk to her and I for awhile and happened to ask if I wanted a chew, and i regretfully said yes and that's where it all began. Lets just say my legs were like jello for the rest of that rollerblading trip.
It wasn't that I was hooked from that moment, I would go in spurts where I would chew and then I wouldn't I can't really pinpoint when I finally was addicted.
It was my senior year of high school when I decided I was going to quit, and I did just that cold turkey, no help from a site like this or anything else, just cold turkey and made it for over a year.
After that I went back to it and was on it steady for a few years. In 2007 I got married to the girl I was with for 4 years, everything seemed right in my life and chew was just part of my life. As time passed I slowly found myself cutting back from chew and kind of quit without really realizing it. Fast forward to about 2009ish, things in my marriage started to seem "different" my now ex wife was distant and just overall a different person. To make a long story short, she ended up cheating on me, with the best man from our wedding (The guy who gave me my first chew) Now this was my best friend throughout high school and just someone I really respected and trusted. My life went from great to a whirlwind in a heartbeat. Now this is where I'm saying this isn't an excuse but this is the time I started chewing again, I was mad at the world and at that point I wanted the addiction, I felt I needed it.
No fast forward to the present, I have since obviously moved on from my ex and my ex best friend and have since found a girl that makes my days bright and filled with love, and we are engaged to be married next April. I'm not quitting for her, or for our two boys, of course that's a bonus for quitting but I'm doing this for me. I'm sick of the addiction, I'm sick of the sore mouth, I'm sick of the feeling of "I NEED THIS" It's time to take my life back, it's time for ME to stand up to this and kick it in the ass!
Sorry for the long post, but DAMN did that feel good to put into words!
Keep strong everyone, we grow through each other.
Joe
