Lenten quitter

[Doc Chewfree]

Checking in- how's it going?

Good, thanks for asking. Day 39, and as my year changes from "balls out work 70+ hours a week" to "work 36 hours and enjoy summer" mode the "gauntlet of triggers" has been in place for the last 2 weeks.

An example - I do not leave my county from mid-December until May, so by May I just want to go anywhere (even Ohio) that isn't Tragic City, MI. So last weekend we had a family church thing (Confirmation) 4 hours from home. So the triggers were 1. long car ride 2. hotel 3. being on a long car ride and my wife and kids in a hotel 4. just having fun and being away from home.

How did I face these? Toothpicks in the car helped, learning how to text the night before and seeing a message from E  C, and just the overall niceness of not having to worry about spitters in the room and by the pool. It also helped in the morning texting E  C's Dad to have him post roll for me (no internet access, and I'm too dumb to use internet on a one inch screen), plus backing it up an hour later by calling Josh so I was double covered. Knowing I have brothers willing to help me post roll and keep tabs on me was more than enough to be quit for a day!

I quit with you all today.

Way to go Thumble! You are winning. Breath in that sweet victory and enjoy it. Triggers are everywhere but chewing is no longer an option. So you just have to have your plan in place, which you did. Remember that anything you did with dip will be better without.
Quit Like F*** with you my friend!

[Grizzlyhasclaws]

Checking in- how's it going?

Good, thanks for asking. Day 39, and as my year changes from "balls out work 70+ hours a week" to "work 36 hours and enjoy summer" mode the "gauntlet of triggers" has been in place for the last 2 weeks.

An example - I do not leave my county from mid-December until May, so by May I just want to go anywhere (even Ohio) that isn't Tragic City, MI. So last weekend we had a family church thing (Confirmation) 4 hours from home. So the triggers were 1. long car ride 2. hotel 3. being on a long car ride and my wife and kids in a hotel 4. just having fun and being away from home.

How did I face these? Toothpicks in the car helped, learning how to text the night before and seeing a message from E  C, and just the overall niceness of not having to worry about spitters in the room and by the pool. It also helped in the morning texting E  C's Dad to have him post roll for me (no internet access, and I'm too dumb to use internet on a one inch screen), plus backing it up an hour later by calling Josh so I was double covered. Knowing I have brothers willing to help me post roll and keep tabs on me was more than enough to be quit for a day!

I quit with you all today.

Good job. Way to work it.

[Thumblewort]

Checking in- how's it going?

Good, thanks for asking. Day 39, and as my year changes from "balls out work 70+ hours a week" to "work 36 hours and enjoy summer" mode the "gauntlet of triggers" has been in place for the last 2 weeks.

An example - I do not leave my county from mid-December until May, so by May I just want to go anywhere (even Ohio) that isn't Tragic City, MI. So last weekend we had a family church thing (Confirmation) 4 hours from home. So the triggers were 1. long car ride 2. hotel 3. being on a long car ride and my wife and kids in a hotel 4. just having fun and being away from home.

How did I face these? Toothpicks in the car helped, learning how to text the night before and seeing a message from E  C, and just the overall niceness of not having to worry about spitters in the room and by the pool. It also helped in the morning texting E  C's Dad to have him post roll for me (no internet access, and I'm too dumb to use internet on a one inch screen), plus backing it up an hour later by calling Josh so I was double covered. Knowing I have brothers willing to help me post roll and keep tabs on me was more than enough to be quit for a day!

I quit with you all today.

[brettlees]

Checking in- how's it going?

[Thumblewort]

Thank you for the kind words all, I must be emotional today because they hit hard.

I am a curious person, so yes, I want to know all angles of everything I get into. 6 days ago I had never heard or seen a Steel Panther video, and this weekend I watched 50+ vids on YouTube and ordered a tank top (addictive personality!!!). So I appreciate the kind words, and will focus deeper on the critical comments and try to reply in a civil manner to them (VS the nic rage of a couple of weeks ago). I will always have critics as my first line of anything is to try and crack a joke (see my Chuck Norris spins on the WCW thread).

I know my quit, and everyone on this sites quit is serious business, but if there is a spot for a dick joke I probably will hit it. If my lame brand of humor offends you, your box of chocolates is already in the mail.

I couldn't have done this without the KTC, and I quit with all of you today.

[apogeeammo]

Day 32 Bombero, thanks. I quit with you today.

Keep it going Thumblewort -- nice quit you have going!

Bro... I'm digging how you're approaching this from all angles... searching for the truth and showing integrity in the process. I don't read "holier than thou" in any part of your posts. I see a genuine curiosity about this new life you're creating. Dipping consumed your life... now quitting consumes your life. It's natural to start seeing things from a different perspective and dealing with life as a quitter. One of the wisest mantras of this site is... take what you need, leave the rest. Some people need the anger for fuel... so be it. Some people need to be dicks... so be it. Some people just need to tag along... so be it. Whatever. Rock your own song...

Echoing what AJ said, you trying to understand what you are going through mentally and physically will prove to be helpful in the long run. I also asked vets for advice on what they felt when they were around my number of quit days so I would know that I wasn't the only one feeling that way. Guess what, a lot of people did feel exactly the way I was feeling at around the same time in their quit.

Keep it going! You have a good thing happening to you.

AA

[AppleJack]

Day 32 Bombero, thanks. I quit with you today.

Keep it going Thumblewort -- nice quit you have going!

Bro... I'm digging how you're approaching this from all angles... searching for the truth and showing integrity in the process. I don't read "holier than thou" in any part of your posts. I see a genuine curiosity about this new life you're creating. Dipping consumed your life... now quitting consumes your life. It's natural to start seeing things from a different perspective and dealing with life as a quitter. One of the wisest mantras of this site is... take what you need, leave the rest. Some people need the anger for fuel... so be it. Some people need to be dicks... so be it. Some people just need to tag along... so be it. Whatever. Rock your own song...

[brettlees]

Day 32 Bombero, thanks. I quit with you today.

Keep it going Thumblewort -- nice quit you have going!

[Thumblewort]

Day 32 Bombero, thanks. I quit with you today.

[Bombero]

Fellow Catholic, It is great that you have seen that Smokeless Tobacco is bad for you. However, Nicotine is just as bad. It is very addictive and KTC is a Quiting Extreme website. You have the support of several individuals including myself.

40 Days is a long time to quit, but I would hate to see you be a stopper and not a quitter. I reached the decision to quit because I finally realized that I was being a selfish asshole risking my life and risking my children not having a father they can look up to or be proud of.

The choice is yours quit or not, but remember that using a nic patch is just like patching a flat tire, it works for a while but a few more miles will cause that car to careen off course if you are not careful.

P

I stopped for 3 months. Europe banned smokeless, you can't find a dip can anywhere. I was dipping again within 3 hours of being back stateside.

5 years later I QUIT. Day 10 (.5) and counting.

Don't stop, quit. But don't JUST quit, quit like your life depends on it, cuz it does.

[Grady]

'bang head' 'bang head' 'bang head' 'bang head'

Have a great day my fellow addicts. Keep the quit!

[Thumblewort]

Same for me Grizzly, I am an addict, and I want to be reminded why I post here, and why I fight to be quit every day. 26 days or 3000 days, and addict is an addict.

[Grizzlyhasclaws]

I hardly think my post of asking how some of the other KTC members have handled nic users is "holier than thou".

If my post said "I have a client who is an old chewing buddy, and he dissed me when I told him to quit" then yes, that would have been holier than thou. All I did is told him I quit when he gave me a curious look.

There are certain folks on this site that like to read things into stuff that isn't there?

You are absolutely right, my bad. Let me rephrase that.

So my question is, how much, if any, should I have hit him with the truth hammer?

None!

Why not Grady? Just curious.

GHC, I don't sugarcoat anything. Behind a keyboard or face to face, I have very thick skin. We all have our opinions on how we stay sober, tobacco free or whatever the case may be BUT here it comes, plain and simple. There isn't one of us here that has proved a fuckin thing. Bottom line, I don't care if you've been nic free for 5 years, you are STILL an addict and you will be addict until the day that you die. Don't believe that? Put in a chew and see if can you just have 1.

As I was told years ago by a 20 year recoverING addict, the #'s thing, the days that you've been poison free don't mean SHIT. When an addict starts accepting praise, pat's on the back, you've done so well, you should be so proud of yourself, etc, etc that is when the complacency rears it's ugly head.

So, my opinion is: if an active addict comes to you and asks for help, then you do everything that you possibly can to help that person.

If you have the "I got this" attitude and think you're going to be someone's savior by going up and giving them advice on THEIR addiction... then you got it all figured out....good luck!

I agree with you for the most part. But why not help a family member or friend who is also an addict. Maybe you can at least make them realize they are an addict. Isn't that the first step in recovery?

I read a quote that went something like this -- The day you forget you are an addict is the day you lose.

Why not help some friends and loved ones realize they are an addict? It could at least help them to think of quitting.

Edit: I come here every day to remind myself that I'm an addict. This quit takes commitment and actual work. I'm glad you guys are on board too.

[Thumblewort]

I have no qualms preaching to my children, I already do as a matter of fact. They are 10 and nearly 9, and I have used nicotine every day but the last 26 days of their life, so in that case I will be holier than thou if and when the subject comes up, which it has.......and nothing will make a grown man cry faster then an unprompted 10 year telling his dad he is proud of him for quitting tobacco. Worth every damn crave, headache, and rage moment.


As far as my 2 brothers in-law, I see them 2, maybe 3 times a year, so I'll let that happen naturally, but if asked I will preach like a deacon. I know I am an addict, and that I DO NOT have anything solved outside of my daily promise, but if I can help someone I love be quit for today, why not try?

I only have the 1 chewing buddy, and you know about that.

Good dialogue here IMHO, thanks for the varying opinions. Last post was powerful Grady!

[Grady]

I hardly think my post of asking how some of the other KTC members have handled nic users is "holier than thou".

If my post said "I have a client who is an old chewing buddy, and he dissed me when I told him to quit" then yes, that would have been holier than thou. All I did is told him I quit when he gave me a curious look.

There are certain folks on this site that like to read things into stuff that isn't there?

You are absolutely right, my bad. Let me rephrase that.

So my question is, how much, if any, should I have hit him with the truth hammer?

None!

Why not Grady? Just curious.

GHC, I don't sugarcoat anything. Behind a keyboard or face to face, I have very thick skin. We all have our opinions on how we stay sober, tobacco free or whatever the case may be BUT here it comes, plain and simple. There isn't one of us here that has proved a fuckin thing. Bottom line, I don't care if you've been nic free for 5 years, you are STILL an addict and you will be addict until the day that you die. Don't believe that? Put in a chew and see if can you just have 1.

As I was told years ago by a 20 year recoverING addict, the #'s thing, the days that you've been poison free don't mean SHIT. When an addict starts accepting praise, pat's on the back, you've done so well, you should be so proud of yourself, etc, etc that is when the complacency rears it's ugly head.

So, my opinion is: if an active addict comes to you and asks for help, then you do everything that you possibly can to help that person.

If you have the "I got this" attitude and think you're going to be someone's savior by going up and giving them advice on THEIR addiction... then you got it all figured out....good luck!