1.1%. My first hundred days being quit represent 1.1% of the ~ 9125 days or 25 years that I dipped. It's just the beginning. It's a step, maybe two. But it's the hardest step or two. I'm no different than any of you that may be reading this with a lipper packed. I dipped to relax, I dipped at common times doing things I liked to do with a dip in. If I can do this, so can you.
Why did I quit:
If I was smarter in my earlier years I would have quit much younger but I always found a reason to say tomorrow, or my next birthday. Our anniversary, she'll like that. When long term dippers start getting older eventually we have that profound seminal moment where we realize it's time to quit. For me it was a number of things that hit all at the same time. My father-in-law was going through chemo, my sister-in-law's husband died and I had to take care of her financial affairs and get her propped up in as good a place as possible. She had the unfortunate circumstance of giving birth to their twins the day after his funeral. But she's in a better place now than she was then and time will soften the blow. In getting her organized and properly invested, I realized that now is the best time to also clue my wife in on our financial plan, where our money is, sign-ins, passwords, everything that I had to find and build for her sister. After the second meeting with my wife and our adviser, we each were in our cars driving home. I put a fatty in and thought about how good it was to get my wife in the know. Then I progressed to wondering if we have a shot to pull the date in to 65 or 62. This was my moment. It hit me so hard. It was the first time that I truly wanted to quit. Why put together all these plans and save a pile of money if your not going to be around to use it. How insane is that?
How did I quit:
I proceeded to putting my quit plan together. I would taper for awhile using nic patches. So I set the date for Monday, bought my patches and dipped all weekend long. I found KTC on Sunday night and lurked for awhile. Threw out my last dip at 11 and posted a day 2 on Monday. I did it as a challenge not knowing how long I would be able to hold out. The patches were my safety net. I never used them and ended returning them to Walgreens. Once you get past the fog, yeah there are still craves but you sorta get in a groove. The further along I got, I began to realize that I can do this. What once was impossible was becoming probable. I began to focus on those that cave and come back, what's the story, what are the common elements and noticed those that drift from the site and stop posting roll are more likely to cave. And they're the first ones to tell you. Posting roll and getting involved, paying it forward by helping the new quitters is where I fit. You see the same names cruise the intros and welcome the new guys in. While I do that some, I can do a better job.
A few special shout outs to GrizzClaws, Sluggo, Krusty, Pope, and Aggie for bringing me in to their text group. Also to J2B, Bass, Truetomyself, Fish, Wannemacher, Lighty, LittleLebowski, and Jakester for doing the same. The power of small text groups is extremely valuable in building a solid quit. Also thanks to August. I am a proud AAA Brass Baller and while we may not be the loudest, we've got a team of badass quitters and I'm proud to be quit with you. Thanks guys.
