General Discussion - 2012

[grizzlysnuffer]

Alright guys day 20 and I keep getting grouchier. I'm snapping at small things like when people don't get to the pint when they're talking to me. My work crew and I had a great relationship but now they're stand offish. Which I understand. My quit is staying strong and I'm not urging I just want any advice on dealing with the rage. It comes from nowhere and blindsides me 'bang head'

[G]

Nice work on the new banner!!Ã,  My favorite season is Winter!!

X2 on the banner...other than winter being my favorite season....

The banner looks great. Winter however sucks....

Special thanks to Rocketman for the photos!

You did that Roam?

It is...stunning. Thanks.

Yessir, fine job. And I love Winter. It don't snow or ice here though. Just the highs move from the 100s to the 80s. Maybe well get some 50s by February.

Hell yeah! Nice work, Roam!

Even though I sexted you my thanks, ill say it again here. Awesome header. Thanks.

[30yraddict]

Nice work on the new banner!!Ã,  My favorite season is Winter!!

X2 on the banner...other than winter being my favorite season....

The banner looks great. Winter however sucks....

Special thanks to Rocketman for the photos!

You did that Roam?

It is...stunning. Thanks.

Yessir, fine job. And I love Winter. It don't snow or ice here though. Just the highs move from the 100s to the 80s. Maybe well get some 50s by February.

Hell yeah! Nice work, Roam!

[redyota]

Nice work on the new banner!!Ã,  My favorite season is Winter!!

X2 on the banner...other than winter being my favorite season....

The banner looks great. Winter however sucks....

Special thanks to Rocketman for the photos!

You did that Roam?

It is...stunning. Thanks.

Yessir, fine job. And I love Winter. It don't snow or ice here though. Just the highs move from the 100s to the 80s. Maybe well get some 50s by February.

[loot]

Nice work on the new banner!!Ã,  My favorite season is Winter!!

X2 on the banner...other than winter being my favorite season....

The banner looks great. Winter however sucks....

Special thanks to Rocketman for the photos!

You did that Roam?

It is...stunning. Thanks.

[Roamcountry]

Nice work on the new banner!!Ã,  My favorite season is Winter!!

X2 on the banner...other than winter being my favorite season....

The banner looks great. Winter however sucks....

Special thanks to Rocketman for the photos!

[Greg5280]

Nice work on the new banner!!Ã,  My favorite season is Winter!!

X2 on the banner...other than winter being my favorite season....

The banner looks great. Winter however sucks....

[Grizzly25]

Nice work on the new banner!! My favorite season is Winter!!

X2 on the banner...other than winter being my favorite season....

[mfkuss]

Nice work on the new banner!! My favorite season is Winter!!

[G]

"My suggestion? Give in to the fact you are an addict. Recognize that most, if not all of your routines were built on serving your addiction" - very wise words from J2B

Those of you who still think you loved to dip have not come to grips with the fact you are a drug addict. Dip made you feel cool. It made you feel manly. It made you feel country. It made you feel whatever it needed you to feel so you would be addicted. It was not your lover or your friend. It was your master, and you it's slave. Step back and open your eyes. You have been blindly feeding your drug addiction. Repeat after me " I am and always will be a fucking drug addict." As J2B says, accept this and move on.

Slam the door, burn the boats, burn the bridge, ban the shit. Never again. Not once. Do this and you too can enjoy freedom with your entire face.

It made you feel whatever you needed to feel...

Damned fine words, NDY.

Never again. Don't romanticize it. Dipping absolutely sucks. No way you love something that has to trick you into the relationship. Never again.

[Notdeadyet]

"My suggestion? Give in to the fact you are an addict. Recognize that most, if not all of your routines were built on serving your addiction" - very wise words from J2B

Those of you who still think you loved to dip have not come to grips with the fact you are a drug addict. Dip made you feel cool. It made you feel manly. It made you feel country. It made you feel whatever it needed you to feel so you would be addicted. It was not your lover or your friend. It was your master, and you it's slave. Step back and open your eyes. You have been blindly feeding your drug addiction. Repeat after me " I am and always will be a fucking drug addict." As J2B says, accept this and move on.

Slam the door, burn the boats, burn the bridge, ban the shit. Never again. Not once. Do this and you too can enjoy freedom with your entire face.

[J2b]

Would like to here what others have to say about this topic.

I am on day 7 of my quit.Ã,  I doing well.Ã,  Cravings are not so bad right now.Ã,  I have found that packing the lip with some dregs from a used tea bag helps with the oral fixation of having something in your mouth.Ã,  I had to do something.Ã,  I've chewed so much gum my jaws are sore.Ã,  I am convinced I will beat this!Ã,  Here's to the nic bitch.... 'Finger' !!

So here is the real question I have.Ã,  How do you get through the grieving for a very dear friend?Ã,  I know that the can was never my friend.Ã,  But that doesn't change the feelings I have.Ã,  The dip and can have been a part of my identity for many many years.Ã,  Where ever I went the can was in my pocket and the turd was in my jaw.Ã,  It really does feel like I lost a dear friend to death.

I guess what people say may be true.Ã,  It will get better with time.Ã,  I refuse to go back and be a slave to the can anymore.Ã,  I just wish this feeling would get the hell out of here.

Time gets you through that feeling and around here we measure time in days. So just keep on track with your quit and it will go away. You'll find that the "sadness" happens less frequently, you'll find that you recognize it for what it is (the nic bitch in your brain), you'll find that it goes away with just a though of "oh yeah, I don't do that anymore".

You'll also find that the feeling come out of nowhere to surprise you at times. It's part of quitting. Insidious shit these scientists of death of came up with isn't it? Those fuckers. It's the siren's call of death, not a real long lost friend.

I PROMISE YOU THAT IT GETS BETTER. You don't have to "guess" it gets better with time. It does. You will not be having these feelings forever.

I can spend two days in Vegas casino's, drinking and gambling, and never have the feeling.

One day at a time.

I said this before, but damned if i can go back and find it. Addiction is part of you, whether you are actively using or quit. When using, your routines are centered around your addiction either consciously or sub consciously. When you quit, all those routines need to be reset.

Its akin to losing a limb. Folks have that phantom feeling, where they swear they can stool feel their hand or fingers or toes. They try and do things as normal, like nothing has changed. They are in denial that their whole life has changed. Addicts are no different, albeit with all of our limbs.

My suggestion? Give in to the fact you are an addict. Recognize that most, if not all of your routines were built on serving your addiction. Change them. Realize that you can mow the lawn, drive a car, take a dump, etc without a dip. Do it. If it helps, change something about how you do these tasks.

Most importantly, realize that your lifetime companion was killing you. Slowly but surely. Do not grieve for the loss, celebrate what you have gained. Freedom. Those routines you were chained to? How much time did they cost you with loved ones or doing things you would rather be doing? Focus on the positives.

Ultimately, your quit will be strong and wise enough to recognize that you were enthralled to your can. It was no companion, it was a jailer. Do not mourn, for you have not lost. Celebrate what you have taken. FREEDOM is beautiful thing.

[justquit]

Would like to here what others have to say about this topic.

I am on day 7 of my quit.Ã,  I doing well.Ã,  Cravings are not so bad right now.Ã,  I have found that packing the lip with some dregs from a used tea bag helps with the oral fixation of having something in your mouth.Ã,  I had to do something.Ã,  I've chewed so much gum my jaws are sore.Ã,  I am convinced I will beat this!Ã,  Here's to the nic bitch.... 'Finger' !!

So here is the real question I have.Ã,  How do you get through the grieving for a very dear friend?Ã,  I know that the can was never my friend.Ã,  But that doesn't change the feelings I have.Ã,  The dip and can have been a part of my identity for many many years.Ã,  Where ever I went the can was in my pocket and the turd was in my jaw.Ã,  It really does feel like I lost a dear friend to death.

I guess what people say may be true.Ã,  It will get better with time.Ã,  I refuse to go back and be a slave to the can anymore.Ã,  I just wish this feeling would get the hell out of here.

Time gets you through that feeling and around here we measure time in days. So just keep on track with your quit and it will go away. You'll find that the "sadness" happens less frequently, you'll find that you recognize it for what it is (the nic bitch in your brain), you'll find that it goes away with just a though of "oh yeah, I don't do that anymore".

You'll also find that the feeling come out of nowhere to surprise you at times. It's part of quitting. Insidious shit these scientists of death of came up with isn't it? Those fuckers. It's the siren's call of death, not a real long lost friend.

I PROMISE YOU THAT IT GETS BETTER. You don't have to "guess" it gets better with time. It does. You will not be having these feelings forever.

I can spend two days in Vegas casino's, drinking and gambling, and never have the feeling.

One day at a time.

[Roamcountry]

Would like to here what others have to say about this topic.

I am on day 7 of my quit.Ã,  I doing well.Ã,  Cravings are not so bad right now.Ã,  I have found that packing the lip with some dregs from a used tea bag helps with the oral fixation of having something in your mouth.Ã,  I had to do something.Ã,  I've chewed so much gum my jaws are sore.Ã,  I am convinced I will beat this!Ã,  Here's to the nic bitch.... 'Finger' !!

So here is the real question I have.Ã,  How do you get through the grieving for a very dear friend?Ã,  I know that the can was never my friend.Ã,  But that doesn't change the feelings I have.Ã,  The dip and can have been a part of my identity for many many years.Ã,  Where ever I went the can was in my pocket and the turd was in my jaw.Ã,  It really does feel like I lost a dear friend to death.

I guess what people say may be true.Ã,  It will get better with time.Ã,  I refuse to go back and be a slave to the can anymore.Ã,  I just wish this feeling would get the hell out of here.

I felt the same way, I wrote this a little over a year ago:

Day 136

On one of the threads today, a quitter mentioned that he felt like he was loosing himself by loosing all of his addictions. That mindset is certainly something I can relate to as it is a part of my "addict brain". That part of the brain that I have to make a conscious choice to battle every day.

The first few years of my dipping, I felt bad ass about it. It was a baseball player/ lumberjack thing. It kind of sticks in your subconscious that way. Coffee was the same way, and likewise for alcohol...It was the "adult" thing to do. Made me feel badass when I had some coffee at 12, just like the grown ups, just like my dad. Or when I was sneaking that swig, just like my older brothers..I'd like to say that I've grown up a little since then, but there are many parts of my brain that have not. I am in the process of retraining my brain to understand that chew is not cool, it is not a badass, grown up, baseball player, lumberjack thing to do. I am also teaching it that coffee has nothing to do with being grown up, nothing to do with being a man, ..Problem is, those parts of my brain still want to be 12. They don't want to be taught to be different than they have been. After all, I've left those parts of my brain that way for over 30 years.

While I am glad that progress has been made, the retraining is nowhere near complete. To some extent, it may not be for the rest of my life. The good news is despite ups and downs, the battle gets easier even if it is never over. I do know one thing: there is no standing still, no treading water. Every day is a push for progress. Every day is a day to overcome my addict's brain. The first step is to remind myself that I am an addict. The day I get up and forget that is the day I start sliding backwards into the abyss of addiction. That is why I am here. So I don't forget.

Letting go is painful. Hang on for the best to come....freedom...it's worth it.

[30yraddict]

Would like to here what others have to say about this topic.

I am on day 7 of my quit. I doing well. Cravings are not so bad right now. I have found that packing the lip with some dregs from a used tea bag helps with the oral fixation of having something in your mouth. I had to do something. I've chewed so much gum my jaws are sore. I am convinced I will beat this! Here's to the nic bitch.... 'Finger' !!

So here is the real question I have. How do you get through the grieving for a very dear friend? I know that the can was never my friend. But that doesn't change the feelings I have. The dip and can have been a part of my identity for many many years. Where ever I went the can was in my pocket and the turd was in my jaw. It really does feel like I lost a dear friend to death.

I guess what people say may be true. It will get better with time. I refuse to go back and be a slave to the can anymore. I just wish this feeling would get the hell out of here.

I felt the same way, I wrote this a little over a year ago:

Day 136

On one of the threads today, a quitter mentioned that he felt like he was loosing himself by loosing all of his addictions. That mindset is certainly something I can relate to as it is a part of my "addict brain". That part of the brain that I have to make a conscious choice to battle every day.

The first few years of my dipping, I felt bad ass about it. It was a baseball player/ lumberjack thing. It kind of sticks in your subconscious that way. Coffee was the same way, and likewise for alcohol...It was the "adult" thing to do. Made me feel badass when I had some coffee at 12, just like the grown ups, just like my dad. Or when I was sneaking that swig, just like my older brothers..I'd like to say that I've grown up a little since then, but there are many parts of my brain that have not. I am in the process of retraining my brain to understand that chew is not cool, it is not a badass, grown up, baseball player, lumberjack thing to do. I am also teaching it that coffee has nothing to do with being grown up, nothing to do with being a man, ..Problem is, those parts of my brain still want to be 12. They don't want to be taught to be different than they have been. After all, I've left those parts of my brain that way for over 30 years.

While I am glad that progress has been made, the retraining is nowhere near complete. To some extent, it may not be for the rest of my life. The good news is despite ups and downs, the battle gets easier even if it is never over. I do know one thing: there is no standing still, no treading water. Every day is a push for progress. Every day is a day to overcome my addict's brain. The first step is to remind myself that I am an addict. The day I get up and forget that is the day I start sliding backwards into the abyss of addiction. That is why I am here. So I don't forget.