A friend of mine has been going through this process here at Kill the Can and I see that he is on day 131. Congratulations Scooners. Today I join him and begin my first ever Quit in 16 years. It will be a challenge but I will succeed because for the first time ever I want to quit. Until now (and even now) I have loved loved loved chewing. But last night I had my last chew and today I quit.
as of today, you no longer love it. You'll find, perhaps very quickly, that you detest tobacco. Read the site from top to bottom. When you are done, you'll hate tobacco for the rest of your life.
Tarpon is correct. The illusion you made up for yourself is that you liked it. You don't. Step back and look at the habit itself and you will decide it is the most digusting fucking thing you have ever done. I will post an article here that may help you understand.
Understanding your enemy.
**Portions taken from an article on Whyquit.com**As teenagers, what most of us thought would be a brief rebellious experiment was quickly transformed into a powerful lifelong chemical addiction as daily multiple nicotine feedings quickly became mandatory. New studies confirm that for some of us it only took coughing and hacking our way through a few nicotine laden cigarettes, or a few pinches of tobacco before the shackles of slavery began to take control. Five, ten, fifteen nicotine fixes a day became the norm, our way of life- when will enough be enough became the question. "Tomorrow, tomorrow I will quit” or "I love tobacco, it helps me think" “ “It helps me remain calm”, and many other lies we told ourselves daily. Welcome to the realities of true chemical dependency. A world built upon lies; Lies sold to you by big tobacco and lies you told yourself.
Psychologists calls our lies denial. Denial is an unconscious defense mechanism - just below the surface - we use for resolving the emotional conflict and anxieties that naturally arise from living in a permanent state of self-destructive chemical bondage. Three primary areas of denial relied upon by nicotine addicts are dependency denial, cost denial and recovery denial. In each, truth is sacrificed in exchange for peace of mind while remaining hostage in an artificial world of "nicotine normal," or to justify relapse. I know I told my self hundreds of times I could quit whenever I wanted to, I just did not want to quit. Tobacco kept me calm, helped me concentrate, gave me energy.. what horseshit. I know you all used this one too “ I will quit when Skoal reaches XXX per can I will quit.” All forms of denial to help you cope with your addiction.
Most nicotine addicts are completely insulated by a thick blanket of unconscious denial rationalizations, minimizations, fault projections, escapes, intellectualizations and delusions that hide the pain of captivity or create the illusion that lifes problems are somehow being solved by using. The average addict musters the confidence to challenge their addiction about once every three years, at which time roughly 1 in 20 will succeed in breaking free for an entire year. These horrible recovery statistics evenutally result in half of us dying by our own hand, with male users losing an average of 13 years of life expectancy and females losing 14 years. Our senseless self-destruction is undeniable visible evidence of denial's depth, and the power of this addiction. The addiction insulated us from the extreme price being paid with each and every puff or pinch - a little more of life itself taken, all to line the pockets of big tobacco.
Sadly for far too many the three years between recovery attempts will be too long. According to the World Health Organization the next three years will cost 15 million of our brother and sister addicts their lives. If you are here reading this you are at a crossroads. You want to quit but are not sure you can. This is where you need to be. It will be tough, you will have to endure some pain but it can be done. As a former can to can and a half a day user I can attest to the fact that this site and the methods here do work. You have a choice to make today, another try in three years may be too late.
Make no mistakes, this is a battle for your lives. What will your decision be ?
