Glad to be here

[Athan]

From Missouri Air Gunner (moairgunner - June '18 JackHammers) on 600:

MoAirGunner - Day 600. This is the new normal...I like the new normal...New normal finds the old normal very weird and wonders why we thought that was normal...Old Normal and New Normal now realize that the Nic Bitch is a witch...Keep melting that witch ODAAT just like Dorthy!!!

[Athan]

From @copequits  at the Rawktoberfest, on posting every day:

"I certainly don't ever want to go back to the beginning again and I don't want anyone in here to either.  It's such a cheap insurance policy, don't ever think for a minute that any of us are cured."

For those of us past the HOF, where the posting of roll becomes a mundane thing and relegated to the perfunctory check mark in the box to start the day - an insurance policy is exactly what it is.  The premium is as cheap as it gets.  The day you let the policy lapse is the day you walk down the path to slavery where she's waiting with open arms to suckle you once more.

[Dawgs]

Just got done under the house running a new water line after re-doing the floor in the kitchen.  Could not for the life of me to get that #@$% 1/4" line to the ice maker to stop leaking.  What is it with these ferrels?!  I could no kidding go for a lipper.  If I weren't still posting roll I'd be knuckles keep into a can ever trip under the house.  I HATE being under the house!  I didn't have to worry about rats or snakes or spiders on that stanky submarine.  I'd much rather be back breathing recycled farts again than go back under the house. Gives me the heebie jeebies even thinking about it. At any rate another day of freedom earned and I'll be happy tomorrow that I didn't cave today!

@Athan ....I know this is a post you put up a while back, but I reading through a lot of them today. This one hit me. I did that exact same thing yesterday. I just bought a really nice, but older home on a crawl space. I’ve been having a sewer like smell from my daughters bathroom. Only from there and no where else. I’ve ruled out everything else and was putting off going down there. I spent a couple of days working myself up to do it. I bought a chemical like suite, extra flashlights, breathing masks....the whole 9 yards. Looked pretty rediculous actually. But I got under there....waaaayyy under there. I was terrified. That would have been, this time last year, when I would have packed in a half a can. Just to get the perceived courage from it. Luckily, there was nothing apparently wrong with the plumbing and all I saw was one mouse running around. That didn’t bother me, it was more the thought of what could be in there. But....all of that to say....I did it and I did it nicotine free. That was a huge win for me. Thanks for sharing yours too. It helps.

[chris2alaska]

Come hither all ye and listen
   And upon this ghoulish scene
Cast thy gaze there yonder
   Where the moon doth glow serene

What shapes unfold in moonlit mist
   What draws thee like a slave
But rows and rows upon endless rows
   Of shallow empty graves

The addict stood there pondering
   His demons beckoned still
He struggled long into the night
   To resist the crave to fill

He tried again and failed again
   a defiant yet futile stance
half of what he struggled against
   was but his own ignorance

No one could tell him better
   No pastor, friend, or bride
He alone could master this
   Be damned his stubborn pride

He wondered who could help him
   Did he have to quit alone
All along did craves assail him
   With the witch upon her throne

The loner stumbled to and fro
   And did waver his conviction
Alas my brother he failed again
   Twas blinded by addiction

Our stranger was in anguish
   He longed so to be free
He thought it still a habit
   The truth he could not see

I tried to share it with him
        How we wake up every day
And make a promise to a brother
   And promise just today

He offered up excuses
        Of nicotine did he reek
Although his lips flapped promises
        All he spoke was addict speak

And he tried his halls patience
    So they called him out
And then he got defensive
   That insolent trouser trout

He told them how the site should work
   The way the quit should be
If they would not be supportive
   Leave them he would said he

And so he took his ball and left
   While she cackled on her throne
And claimed another life she tho’t
   And counted his fate sewn

But the seed of quit was planted
   That witch she knew it not
For our addict had tasted freedom
   Though just an aliquot

Still that’s all he needed
   A prick to his compunction
To resist the sirens fatal call
   To belabor freedoms function

He shuddered knowing what he faced
        If he should remain a slave
Forsooth his name would there be placed
        Where once stood empty grave

BRAVO, BRAVO...ENCORE (FAST CLAP)

[Athan]

Come hither all ye and listen
   And upon this ghoulish scene
Cast thy gaze there yonder
   Where the moon doth glow serene

What shapes unfold in moonlit mist
   What draws thee like a slave
But rows and rows upon endless rows
   Of shallow empty graves

The addict stood there pondering
   His demons beckoned still
He struggled long into the night
   To resist the crave to fill

He tried again and failed again
   a defiant yet futile stance
half of what he struggled against
   was but his own ignorance

No one could tell him better
   No pastor, friend, or bride
He alone could master this
   Be damned his stubborn pride

He wondered who could help him
   Did he have to quit alone
All along did craves assail him
   With the witch upon her throne

The loner stumbled to and fro
   And did waver his conviction
Alas my brother he failed again
   Twas blinded by addiction

Our stranger was in anguish
   He longed so to be free
He thought it still a habit
   The truth he could not see

I tried to share it with him
        How we wake up every day
And make a promise to a brother
   And promise just today

He offered up excuses
        Of nicotine did he reek
Although his lips flapped promises
        All he spoke was addict speak

And he tried his halls patience
    So they called him out
And then he got defensive
   That insolent trouser trout

He told them how the site should work
   The way the quit should be
If they would not be supportive
   Leave them he would said he

And so he took his ball and left
   While she cackled on her throne
And claimed another life she tho’t
   And counted his fate sewn

But the seed of quit was planted
   That witch she knew it not
For our addict had tasted freedom
   Though just an aliquot

Still that’s all he needed
   A prick to his compunction
To resist the sirens fatal call
   To belabor freedoms function

He shuddered knowing what he faced
        If he should remain a slave
Forsooth his name would there be placed
        Where once stood empty grave

[Athan]

So, I'm becoming that hoarder of righteous quitness as you may have noticed.  Started innocently enough, a quote here or there, a righteous testimony or two, next thing you know, I'm strung out on the proverbial statement, the laconic summary, the articulate expressions of freedom raining like pearls of wisdom pitter pattering in my garden of quit, fertilizing it and making it grow.  And so, the remarkable Srains unwittingly adds to it yet again. Read on quitters, water your gardens and bear much fruit...

I can tell you that the view from 748 is a hell of a lot different than the view from day 20-50 like you guys are in.

I'd say that generally speaking people want to take the easy way out. That's not a knock on anyone. Why would you work any harder than necessary to accomplish a task? If I want to fly from Phoenix to New York I don't go from Phx to LA to Tokyo to Berlin to London to New York. I fly directly from Phoenix to New York. That's not a shortcut, that's taking the most direct path to my intended destination. If there is a screaming baby next to me on the entire flight? It sucks, but it's still the most direct path.

Quitting nicotine is like that. If you're looking for the easy way out, you're already screwed. If you want to skip all the difficulties associated with quitting, you're not going to make it.

You fundamentally, chemically, and permanently altered the way your brain functions. YOU WILL NEVER NOT BE A NICOTINE ADDICT NOW.


That doesn't mean you can't quit, it simply means that the most direct path to do that is a bit painful. You're going to have to listen to that baby cry, for the duration of the flight.


The good news is that you can do some things to make it a bit easier. Getting digits and communicating with your brothers and sisters in quit. Talking about your struggles here and reading about the struggles others have conquered. Finding alternatives (nic free subs). Each and every win you accumulate along the way continues to build until one day you'll look back and realize you don't really remember the last time you felt like shit. You don't remember your last serious crave.

When you get there? Keep posting. If you do nothing else, keep posting. The day you forget that you're an addict is the day you cave, whether you throw one in at that point or not.

[Athan]

Srains knocks it outa the park ...

Dipping is an incredibly selfish act. This horrid addiction turns each and every one of us into someone that we are not, all while telling our addict riddled minds that this is how we're "supposed" to feel. That our addiction somehow gives balance to our lives or our moods. This is a lie.

In reality we're stealing time from our families, either to get our fix or when we die prematurely from heart disease or cancer...
In reality we're stealing money from ourselves and our families, by spending it on a poisonous plant chemically designed to hook you and kill you...
In reality we're putting ourselves and our families through major mood swings when we don't have our fix fast enough...

There's quite a bit more to it than that, but you get the idea...


Caving after you've found this place is all on you. You were a selfish lying piece of shit that chose to make a decision. No more. No less.


KTC works only when YOU make a decision to quit, each and every moment. YOU have to be more selfish in your quit than you ever have been in your addiction. YOU have to develop the tools that YOU need in order to quit. No one on this site can quit for you.


There is never a reason to cave. Never. There is no circumstance that is going to be improved by adding poison to your body. Ever.


What YOU have to figure out is what is going to keep YOU quit. We can provide all the tools in the world, but if you don't use them they're not worth a damn thing:
Wake up, piss, post
Every damn day
Get digits for everyone in your group
Get digits for a bunch of vets
Be active on the forums
Chase the late and the missing
Take charge of the SSOA
Start figuring out how to format posts and take charge of your header
Reach out and help newer quitters (at two weeks you know how to get through the first few days)
Post roll in other groups (yeah, the old folk like seeing fresh quit post with them)
Read words of wisdom
Read intros
Read other older groups. May '17, Jan '18, and May '18 in the archives can be fun if you like a good shitshow...
Branch out and post in Wildcard
Call other quitters
Meet other quitters
Etc, etc, etc...


Which tools are YOU using???

If you're a retread - what tools were you previously lacking that would have helped you stay quit?

If you don't know anyone here well enough to call them 24/7 when you're ready to cave then you're just flat doing this wrong. If you're not willing to answer that call 24/7 to help save your brother or sisters quit then why the fuck are you even here?

Find your people. Whoever they are. Those people are your lifeline. Use them. They'll keep you quit.

I know who mine are. Do you?

[Broccoli-saurus]

I'm glad you're here too man. 

[Athan]

Quit gold from the indefatigable master of Quit, the one and only Quintessential Quitter - SRains918

"What you feed, will grow...

You feed your quit with WUPP
You feed your quit EDD
You feed your quit with brotherhood via texts and calls
You feed your quit with accountability

You feed your addiction with complacency
You feed your addiction by avoiding your commitment to quit
You feed your addiction by skipping out on accountability

You are responsible for feeding one or the other. Choose wisely because the one you neglect will wither and die over time."

[Skolvikings]

The pool skimmer basket was making that familiar gurgling noise so I went to dump it out.  As I pulled the cover off I wasn’t immediately sure what I was looking at but it wasn’t leaves.  The instant that my brain registered that a squirrel had gotten sucked into the skimmer and was clinging to the basket handle, the squirrel’s brain registered daylight and an escape from its predicament. This caused it to execute an extreme vertical maneuver. Time stood still and I could make out the scene in slow motion in 360 degrees like some kind of sci-fi footage. We were locked eye to eye about 10 feet off the ground; I had also executed my own form of vertical maneuver although mine was a twisting, flailing sort of excrement propulsion. I lost sight of the beast as I reentered the atmosphere and entered the splashdown phase. My heart beat has yet to return to normal. That no shit just happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW3jB3fFq4M&t=170s

[Athan]

The pool skimmer basket was making that familiar gurgling noise so I went to dump it out.  As I pulled the cover off I wasn’t immediately sure what I was looking at but it wasn’t leaves.  The instant that my brain registered that a squirrel had gotten sucked into the skimmer and was clinging to the basket handle, the squirrel’s brain registered daylight and an escape from its predicament. This caused it to execute an extreme vertical maneuver. Time stood still and I could make out the scene in slow motion in 360 degrees like some kind of sci-fi footage. We were locked eye to eye about 10 feet off the ground; I had also executed my own form of vertical maneuver although mine was a twisting, flailing sort of excrement propulsion. I lost sight of the beast as I reentered the atmosphere and entered the splashdown phase. My heart beat has yet to return to normal. That no shit just happened.

[Athan]

Quit gold from @GlockTherapy Dec '19

My identity was trying to quit.  I would say, "I'm trying to quit." When I changed my mind to say, "No thanks, I don't chew" my identity changed.   I am not a tobacco chewer.

[Skolvikings]

Athan is a Greek god
Blinding us with his stunning bod
Can I get an amen from a mod?

^
Haiku?
Don’t quite get it, eh?

I didn’t know the rules.  Go check Skolvikings intro for som good Haiku action.

Good Haiku Action ???

Sick Fuks.

 

[chris2alaska]

Athan is a Greek god
Blinding us with his stunning bod
Can I get an amen from a mod?

^
Haiku?
Don’t quite get it, eh?

I didn’t know the rules.  Go check Skolvikings intro for som good Haiku action.

[AppleJack]

Athan is a Greek god
Blinding us with his stunning bod
Can I get an amen from a mod?

^
Haiku?
Don’t quite get it, eh?