Days 9-13.
It's been a roller coaster: highs and lows, twist, turns and a few loops. Life can be that way from one day to the next or one situation to the next. I find myself looking back and looking forward as well as just trying to take it ODAAT.
Looking back they were LIES, ALL LIES.
It didn't matter whether the situation was good, bad or indifferent I could always find a reason to reach for that ticking time bomb in a tin can and lock in a big fat lipper of goose shit.
"Yawn. Work is pretty slow right now, great time to put a monster cat turd in my lip to get through the slow time because I know it'll get busy here shortly. Ah fuck, it's crazy busy better lock in some cancer in a can so I can get through this. Whew, those last few hours were intense a nice big pinch of poison will take the edge off".
How can one thing 'get you through' a slow time, then a busy time and then help you relax? IT CAN'T!
When you are addicted to something it doesn't take much to justify getting your fix. We have been lying to ourselves for so long to justify our nicotine abuse that there is fear associated with quitting. How can I work, golf, drive, mow, play, shop, clean, shit, sleep, drink, live, breathe without this poison coursing through my veins? YOU CAN!
It's amazing just how gullible I was to the nic bitch and her evil ways. Looking back to when I abused nicotine, I found myself justifying why I 'needed' it or why it was OK that I was putting poison in my lip. I would tell myself damn near anything as long as it convinced me to reach for the cancer can knowing full well it wasn't good for me. For years I ignored that voice in my head. The one saying "You really shouldn't be doing this" "You know that can cause cancer" "You've got a wife and kids" "Is it really worth the risk" "You are a fucking moron" There were times I really didn't even want a dip but I found myself pinching some poison to put in my raw and torn up lip to 'get through' whatever was going on. "Fuck I don't even want a dip right now, but it'll help me get this through this long drive so I better lock one in" SERIOUSLY!?!?!? It'll help? NO IT WON'T you fucking idiot! Better! I used a verb that means to approve upon to rationalize putting that shit in my mouth! That's how irrational an addict can be.
THAT IS ALL IN THE PAST.
"You got to reverse it. DonÂ’t be pussy-whipped, whip that pussy. Like this here, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang." Mr. Jackson, Boomerang
Now that I fucked my body and mind up with a nasty addiction to nicotine- that I have QUIT- I find myself doing the reverse of what I use to do. Now I'm having to justify why I'm not putting poison in my body. Thank about that! I'm reasoning with myself on why I don't need it. I'm convincing myself I don't need that shit to work, to play golf, to mow the lawn, to drive a fucking car. I don't need that shit period. I've known that truth all along but I choose to ignore it because believing the truth wasn't conducive to appeasing the addiction. So now I'm reversing that and working at it every damn day, rewiring my brain so it knows I can function without that shit even though for years I convinced myself otherwise.
LOOKING FORWARD
I fully believe in ODAAT mantra. It's helpful in keeping perspective. FOREVER can seem daunting, so ODAAT works to relieve the burden of forever. My goal is to stay QUIT and to stay QUIT for the next five minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, 5 months, 5 years, 5 decades. In order for me to do that it helps to visual the long term benefits of staying QUIT today. It reinforces why I'm doing this right now (ODAAT)- it's because there are long term benefits and transversely long term consequences if I don't stay QUIT. It helps to show me why it's so important to make it through today. I'm not going to put poison in my lip today because I want to see my girls' faces on Christmas morning, I want to see them blow out their candles on their birthdays, I want to watch them as they grow up into young women,I want to be there when they need their dad, I want to walk my daughters down the aisle at their weddings, I want to hold grandchildren some day. I want to be there for them every damn day and the only way I can do that is by staying QUIT ODAAT. Thinking about all of those things is helping to keep my commitment of QUIT strong.
It's a choice to use or to not use nicotine. I made the wrong choice multiple times a day and for so many years that it feels really good to make the right choice every day and sometimes multiple times a day.
No matter what is going on in my life I still have a choice. I can either choose to use nicotine or choose not to use it. I know the right answer, I've always known the right answer.
I QUIT the nic. I QUIT YESTERDAY, I QUIT TODAY AND WHEN I WAKE UP TOMORROW I'M GOING TO DO IT AGAIN.