Author Topic: Introduction  (Read 52142 times)

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Offline pky1520

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #141 on: June 01, 2016, 08:07:00 PM »
Quote from: KingNothing
You're doing this the right way PKY. Your intro has some great nuggets that you will be able to come back to when you hit a bump in the road. It is obvious that you have bought into the system, and it is also obvious that you have already started to reap the benefits of doing so. The best part? It only gets better. Stay committed, stay connected and the euphoria you feel right now will be small potatoes compared to the next several months. Don't get me wrong, it'll go up and down, but the general trend is most certainly upward for you now.

Keep it up, you have a lot of people looking to you.
Thanks for the support guys!

Send me a note if you're ever in N. Carolina and want to do some 'rut' !

Offline worktowin

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #140 on: June 01, 2016, 07:55:00 PM »
sounds like you are taking your life back in all sorts of ways. Congratulations dude.

Offline Thumblewort

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #139 on: June 01, 2016, 03:39:00 PM »
I wrote a lot during my first days as well, it helped. Keep up the quit, and best wishes on your store!
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Offline FISHFLORIDA

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #138 on: June 01, 2016, 02:20:00 PM »
Quote from: pky1520
The last week has been extraordinarily exciting and stressful. I've gone through a gauntlet of triggering events and KTC has been there for me in every sense. I've had the chance to connect with my brothers in August, dump my brain into my intro, post my promise EDD and get some great motivation from all of the Titans of Quit on this site. KTC has pulled me through an experience that I never would have thought I'd get through without dip. I have 100% certainty that I would be chewing like a madman right now without this site.

As of yesterday afternoon, I am my own boss. I left my safe and comfortable corporate world and took on a challenge that I've been thinking about for the last several years. I'm now the owner and operator of a Fly Fishing retail store and Outfitter service. It's going to be a ton of work, less money and no guarantee of success, but I'll be my own boss in an industry that I've been obsessed with my entire life.

What this has meant for me recently is a TON of stress about whether this was the right thing for me and my family, stress about the deal potentially falling through, lots of time spent driving and fishing (tough life, I know, but both of these are major triggers for me), as well as days to myself.

This last week was a gauntlet because as the deal approached: I had a day fishing with the former owner and some clients, which entailed 6 hours ttl in the truck, all day fishing and a bunch of guys smoking cigars by the river. My fiancee was out of town from Thursday - Monday, leaving me plenty of time to get myself into trouble. I spent the weekend with my parents, but that was another 6 hours driving (and two days with parents can drive me crazy). Yesterday we closed the deal, a perfect excuse for a victory dip!

But I powered through, relied on the tools that I developed and leaned on the support system provided by this site. I'm proud to be quit with you all. This is my first day in my new business. One more day nicotine free!
I'll tie a load of saltwater Gotcha's for Bahamian Bones for your store.
Just one is right back to where you were and where you were was desperately wishing you were where you are now.- Via Flip
"But KNOW that quitting every day means that eventually you'll have to quit on the day Lassie kicks the bucket" - ZAM
My Intro
My HOF Speech

Offline KingNothing

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #137 on: June 01, 2016, 01:10:00 PM »
You're doing this the right way PKY. Your intro has some great nuggets that you will be able to come back to when you hit a bump in the road. It is obvious that you have bought into the system, and it is also obvious that you have already started to reap the benefits of doing so. The best part? It only gets better. Stay committed, stay connected and the euphoria you feel right now will be small potatoes compared to the next several months. Don't get me wrong, it'll go up and down, but the general trend is most certainly upward for you now.

Keep it up, you have a lot of people looking to you.
"Fuck nicotine dude. You don't need it. And you don't want it. It didn't do a thing for you and you know it." - worktowin
"today you dissided that shit wont control your life. and it wont. unless you let it." - drome
"Not thinking about nicotine is for people who've never used nicotine. We threw that option away with the first dip or drag on a cigarette. We are addicts, and cannot become un-addicted." - wildirish317
"You need to decide how much you really want to be quit." - pky1520
We are always at risk. And probably always will be. That is why I will never get "too quit" to post my +1. Every. Damn. Day. - geis2597

Intro
Freedom Tastes So Good

Quit: 7/10/15, HOF: 10/17/15, 2nd Floor: 1/25/16, 3rd Floor: 5/4/16, 1 year: 7/10/16 4th Floor: 8/12/16, 5th Floor: 11/20/16, 6th Floor: 2/28/17, 7th Floor: 6/8/17, 2 years: 7/10/17, 8th Floor: 9/16/17, 9th Floor: 12/25/17, Comma: 4/4/18, 3 years: 7/10/18, 11th Floor: 7/13/18

Offline pky1520

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #136 on: June 01, 2016, 07:14:00 AM »
The last week has been extraordinarily exciting and stressful. I've gone through a gauntlet of triggering events and KTC has been there for me in every sense. I've had the chance to connect with my brothers in August, dump my brain into my intro, post my promise EDD and get some great motivation from all of the Titans of Quit on this site. KTC has pulled me through an experience that I never would have thought I'd get through without dip. I have 100% certainty that I would be chewing like a madman right now without this site.

As of yesterday afternoon, I am my own boss. I left my safe and comfortable corporate world and took on a challenge that I've been thinking about for the last several years. I'm now the owner and operator of a Fly Fishing retail store and Outfitter service. It's going to be a ton of work, less money and no guarantee of success, but I'll be my own boss in an industry that I've been obsessed with my entire life.

What this has meant for me recently is a TON of stress about whether this was the right thing for me and my family, stress about the deal potentially falling through, lots of time spent driving and fishing (tough life, I know, but both of these are major triggers for me), as well as days to myself.

This last week was a gauntlet because as the deal approached: I had a day fishing with the former owner and some clients, which entailed 6 hours ttl in the truck, all day fishing and a bunch of guys smoking cigars by the river. My fiancee was out of town from Thursday - Monday, leaving me plenty of time to get myself into trouble. I spent the weekend with my parents, but that was another 6 hours driving (and two days with parents can drive me crazy). Yesterday we closed the deal, a perfect excuse for a victory dip!

But I powered through, relied on the tools that I developed and leaned on the support system provided by this site. I'm proud to be quit with you all. This is my first day in my new business. One more day nicotine free!

Offline pky1520

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #135 on: May 30, 2016, 12:35:00 AM »
I was thinking about my last post - about why being active on this site helps with my quit - and realized that it was an incomplete thought. I wrote about how actively engaging here will make caving harder, but I didn't talk about how it will make quitting easier. In reality, engaging with this community does both at the same time.

I find that the act of committing a belief to print, actually strengthens that belief. When I put a thought into writing, I'm forced to examine and hone that thought and then communicate it in a way that makes sense. The nature of typing forces me to spend more time with each thought than I would if I were speaking or thinking. Additionally, I have the opportunity to review, analyze and edit my thought before submitting it to the world - certainly not a luxury afforded by speech. In practice, this means that the form of communication that I use can actually influence the thought that I started with.

By writing about my desire to quit, my strategies, my struggles, etc., I'm actually making them deeper and more real for myself. A few posts ago, I wrote about my defenses. Now, those defenses would have been there whether they were written down or not, but through the act of writing them, I formed them into a stronger and more coherent defense system; they aren't just a vague feeling or idea, they are an articulated, coherent list that I can use to check against a craving situation.

If I wasn't writing these things down, they would just remain vague feelings an ideas. I don't think vague feelings are strong enough when I'm having an internal debate with my addict self. My addict self is a smart motherfucker. He can play on my feelings, as well as use false logic to get me hooked again. I need to hone my arguments before I have that debate with my addict self.

Additionally, my involvement here has helped me connect with other people going through the same thing. I have helped folks on this site work through a crave, and others have helped me through a triggering situation. I'm getting to know people and I care about their success; I also know that they care about mine. If I never interacted or contributed, I wouldn't really be a part of the community. No one would be invested in my success and I wouldn't be interested in anyone else's. This 'brotherhood' is an important part of the dynamic here. It is a fact of human nature that a person will be able to endure more hardship if that person is connected with others going through the same hardship. Struggling alone is a recipe for failure. Knowing that people are looking out for me makes this manageable in a way that it wouldn't be if I were just typing into a personal log.

So again, I'll ask the folks who just want to keep track of their days here without tapping in to the community, why? Why not commit thought to print and help yourself understand what you're going through? Why not join the group of people going through the same trials you are? Why continue to struggle alone, when there is a whole team of people ready to help?

Offline pky1520

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #134 on: May 28, 2016, 01:25:00 PM »
Wanted to unload a few thoughts on here about why getting involved with this site is important to my quit.

In every group, there seems to be a few folks who pop in and out and don't really engage (Check out MedQuit's Intro post from this morning - Groups 2 and 4).

As I see it, every post that I make and PM that I send, builds up a layer of accountability. I know that if I cave, I will have to face my own words. With every post, I'm writing a check, and it's up to my ass to cash it. By posting often, holding others accountable and building relationships within my group, I'm essentially piling on to a shitstorm for myself, if I were to cave.

If I cave, you can go through every post I've ever written and throw it in my face - and you should! Additionally, there'd be no way to hide from it. I've given my number to quite a few people, so if I just close my computer and never return to this site, I will still have to face my own words through the people that I've let down.

If all I did was post roll a few times a week, never contribute to the conversation and never exchange digits, I'd be leaving a huge door open for failure. I'm serious about quitting. I want to do everything that I can to protect against going back. My daily promise is a part of that, the motivational posts are a part of that, but my engagement here is also a huge part of it. It would be much easier to walk away from this site if I hadn't connected with people and made some fairly bold statements about my quit.

So if you're a guy who just posts up, maybe reads a little bit and then takes off, why? If you really want to stay quit, why the hell aren't you doing everything in your power to achieve that? Why make a promise if you never try to connect with the people you make the promise to? Why are you making it easier for yourself to fall back into your addiction? Plant some roots here, dive in, build connections with people who will hold you accountable. Don't get defensive when you are called out for not abiding by the rules of this site; learn from it and get better.

If I cave, I expect people on this site to find this post and hurl it back into my face. That's why I'm writing it! I don't want to have to face this post after a cave. I don't want to have to experience being a failure to myself and a liar to you.

Have a great weekend - stay strong, stay focused, stay committed.

Offline rwcdrums

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #133 on: May 19, 2016, 12:15:00 PM »
Quote from: pky1520
Some of my thoughts on how to beat a cave.

I think about it as "Defense in Depth." It's a principle where you build up layers of protection. Each layer on it's own won't protect against all threats from all angles, but taken together they wear down an attacker and provide a comprehensive defense. Think about a castle. Surrounding that castle are city walls, garrison troops, archers, sharpened pikes, a moat, skirmish lines, roadblocks, scouts, booby traps, burnt fields, poisoned wells, unfriendly peasants etc. All of those defenses slow and wear down an invading force. You need to build up Quit defenses in the same way.

Here is a not entirely comprehensive picture of my defensive structure:

- Physical Proximity: I don't have the shit in my house, in my truck or on my person. I'd have to drive to the store to purchase it, giving me time to come to my senses. It won't help if I'm with a dip buddy, or at the store for another reason, but 95% of the time there is a physical barrier to my addiction.
- My Health: I'm scared of what will happen to me if I start dipping again. I don't want my face to fall off.
- My Relationship: I promised my fiancee that I'm done with the shit for good. I'm absolutely quitting for myself, but at the same time I do value the trust in my relationship and I don't want to compromise that. I don't want to go into a marriage lying and hiding. I don't want to spend my honeymoon going through withdrawal.
- My Quit: I know I'm only a little over two weeks into this, but 18 days is the longest I've gone without dip since I started using over a decade ago. I'm proud of that and I don't want to throw it away. I want to know how it feels being quit at different milestones.
- Addiction Education: Since starting at KTC, I've tried to learn as much as I can about addiction. By nature, I'm a curious guy and it boggles my mind that in 11 years of abusing this drug it never occurred to me to google "nicotine addiction." Understanding the physiological reasons why "just one" almost always leads to a serious relapse and how withdrawals will affect me in different ways for a very long time has been very helpful in keeping me focused.
- "Surfing": This has become my favorite way to ride out a crave. By focusing on the physical symptoms and trying to describe them to myself, like to a third party, the crave becomes less abstract and therefore easy to handle. It works for me.
- Fake/ Distraction: Be it Smokey Mountain, seeds, gum or a cheeseburger, sometimes I just need to stuff something in my face that isn't dip. I can achieve a mild placebo effect, effectively tricking my brain into thinking that I'm feeding the addiction. Even though I'm not getting the nicotine, the physical act will provide some relief and by the time I'm through, the crave will have passed.
- Shame of Failure: All I have to do is not use tobacco, one day at a time. Billions of people won't use tobacco today and if I can't handle it and keep the commitment that I've made to myself, family, friends, KTC, then I really am a failure and a coward.
- Exercise/ Activity: Fresh air and exercise not only take time and distract the mind, but they actually release endorphines, making up for the artificial dopamine that the Nic provided.
- Freedom: Wasting my money, worrying about leaving a can/ spitter/ loose tobacco somewhere, the looks from strangers, brown marks on every piece of paper I touch, finding excuses to go off alone, essentially having a panic attack if I don't have access to my can. I'm free from all of that and I don't want to go back.
- KTC: KTC has been a great motivator. Posting, browsing and generally wasting time on this site has really provided me with different tools and motivation to stay quit.
- My Quit Group: I know that if I'm really struggling, I can reach out to the folks in my quit group and get some straight talk. On the flip side, if I were to cave, I'd either have to explain my failure and deal with getting ripped apart, or quietly slink away like a coward. Neither option is acceptable to me. Additionally, I'd have a lot of guilt knowing that my cave could contribute to someone else spiraling.
- Posting Roll: I gave my word this morning and that means something to me. I've yet to get to the point in my quit where the only thing holding me back has been my daily promise. However, I consider it my last line of defense. If Nic can get past EVERYTHING else, then it still has do deal with the fact that I made a promise and if I use, my word and my honor is a pile of shit. That's not the man I am - that's not acceptable to me.

Taken individually, no aspect of my defensive structure will stop nicotine every time, but together, this is a robust defense and we all have something similar. I think that why this site is so helpful. Without this site, I wouldn't have my Roll Post, Quit Group, Education or KTC defensive lines. Would I still have plenty of reasons to quit? Of course. Would that be enough to keep me off the shit? It hasn't been, in the past.

From what I've seen, there are two types of caves. Caves happen when people just say "fuck it" and don't go through the process of maintaining their defenses during a moment of particular weakness. Be it at the gas station, golf course or bar, there's a split second decision that brings the whole thing crumbling down. The other type of cave is when someone gets down and actively wants to engage in self destructive behavior. Both of these could be cut off if the "Defense in Depth" is maintained. Walls occasionally need to be repaired, swords sharpened and moats refilled. You have to do the same thing with your quit structure.

*I started this post yesterday and had it just about ready to submit when my computer restarted itself, erasing the whole damn thing. Since then, we've had a pretty lively conversation about caving in my August group, so I think this is even more applicable at this point in the quit - I hope this helps someone.*
Wow, well put! Your story is very inspiring! I'm a 9 day quit newbie and I appreciate the way you broke everything down. It's great to hear of other people going through the same struggle, but seeing their thought process as they do it. It's hard to believe that something I thought was so innocent at the time turned out to be so damn evil! Keep up the fight, brotha! Proud of you and thanks for sharing!! 'Cheers'
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Offline Steakbomb18

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #132 on: May 19, 2016, 09:18:00 AM »
Very nice.  Nice reflection and display of your commitment. Just one observation, and in my opinion, its the one thing that puts your quit over the top. Desire. Without it, your quit is destined for failure. You must want this above anything in life. The moment you lose desire, the wall of quit crumbles. There are certainly things that help keep that desire in check, many of them you have listed - accountability, friends, joy of freedom, fear of shame. These are all things that ultimately support your desire to be quit, but its that desire - for you and you alone - that is paramount for success.

You gotta want this more than anything. After my short 890 days, I continue to want this more than anything. For me. All that I have built my quit upon is precious to me and I am unwilling to relinquish it. That is my desire and you can bet the farm that I'll be here tomorrow at day 891.

keep it up brother!
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Offline pky1520

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #131 on: May 19, 2016, 08:18:00 AM »
Some of my thoughts on how to beat a cave.

I think about it as "Defense in Depth." It's a principle where you build up layers of protection. Each layer on it's own won't protect against all threats from all angles, but taken together they wear down an attacker and provide a comprehensive defense. Think about a castle. Surrounding that castle are city walls, garrison troops, archers, sharpened pikes, a moat, skirmish lines, roadblocks, scouts, booby traps, burnt fields, poisoned wells, unfriendly peasants etc. All of those defenses slow and wear down an invading force. You need to build up Quit defenses in the same way.

Here is a not entirely comprehensive picture of my defensive structure:

- Physical Proximity: I don't have the shit in my house, in my truck or on my person. I'd have to drive to the store to purchase it, giving me time to come to my senses. It won't help if I'm with a dip buddy, or at the store for another reason, but 95% of the time there is a physical barrier to my addiction.
- My Health: I'm scared of what will happen to me if I start dipping again. I don't want my face to fall off.
- My Relationship: I promised my fiancee that I'm done with the shit for good. I'm absolutely quitting for myself, but at the same time I do value the trust in my relationship and I don't want to compromise that. I don't want to go into a marriage lying and hiding. I don't want to spend my honeymoon going through withdrawal.
- My Quit: I know I'm only a little over two weeks into this, but 18 days is the longest I've gone without dip since I started using over a decade ago. I'm proud of that and I don't want to throw it away. I want to know how it feels being quit at different milestones.
- Addiction Education: Since starting at KTC, I've tried to learn as much as I can about addiction. By nature, I'm a curious guy and it boggles my mind that in 11 years of abusing this drug it never occurred to me to google "nicotine addiction." Understanding the physiological reasons why "just one" almost always leads to a serious relapse and how withdrawals will affect me in different ways for a very long time has been very helpful in keeping me focused.
- "Surfing": This has become my favorite way to ride out a crave. By focusing on the physical symptoms and trying to describe them to myself, like to a third party, the crave becomes less abstract and therefore easy to handle. It works for me.
- Fake/ Distraction: Be it Smokey Mountain, seeds, gum or a cheeseburger, sometimes I just need to stuff something in my face that isn't dip. I can achieve a mild placebo effect, effectively tricking my brain into thinking that I'm feeding the addiction. Even though I'm not getting the nicotine, the physical act will provide some relief and by the time I'm through, the crave will have passed.
- Shame of Failure: All I have to do is not use tobacco, one day at a time. Billions of people won't use tobacco today and if I can't handle it and keep the commitment that I've made to myself, family, friends, KTC, then I really am a failure and a coward.
- Exercise/ Activity: Fresh air and exercise not only take time and distract the mind, but they actually release endorphines, making up for the artificial dopamine that the Nic provided.
- Freedom: Wasting my money, worrying about leaving a can/ spitter/ loose tobacco somewhere, the looks from strangers, brown marks on every piece of paper I touch, finding excuses to go off alone, essentially having a panic attack if I don't have access to my can. I'm free from all of that and I don't want to go back.
- KTC: KTC has been a great motivator. Posting, browsing and generally wasting time on this site has really provided me with different tools and motivation to stay quit.
- My Quit Group: I know that if I'm really struggling, I can reach out to the folks in my quit group and get some straight talk. On the flip side, if I were to cave, I'd either have to explain my failure and deal with getting ripped apart, or quietly slink away like a coward. Neither option is acceptable to me. Additionally, I'd have a lot of guilt knowing that my cave could contribute to someone else spiraling.
- Posting Roll: I gave my word this morning and that means something to me. I've yet to get to the point in my quit where the only thing holding me back has been my daily promise. However, I consider it my last line of defense. If Nic can get past EVERYTHING else, then it still has do deal with the fact that I made a promise and if I use, my word and my honor is a pile of shit. That's not the man I am - that's not acceptable to me.

Taken individually, no aspect of my defensive structure will stop nicotine every time, but together, this is a robust defense and we all have something similar. I think that why this site is so helpful. Without this site, I wouldn't have my Roll Post, Quit Group, Education or KTC defensive lines. Would I still have plenty of reasons to quit? Of course. Would that be enough to keep me off the shit? It hasn't been, in the past.

From what I've seen, there are two types of caves. Caves happen when people just say "fuck it" and don't go through the process of maintaining their defenses during a moment of particular weakness. Be it at the gas station, golf course or bar, there's a split second decision that brings the whole thing crumbling down. The other type of cave is when someone gets down and actively wants to engage in self destructive behavior. Both of these could be cut off if the "Defense in Depth" is maintained. Walls occasionally need to be repaired, swords sharpened and moats refilled. You have to do the same thing with your quit structure.

*I started this post yesterday and had it just about ready to submit when my computer restarted itself, erasing the whole damn thing. Since then, we've had a pretty lively conversation about caving in my August group, so I think this is even more applicable at this point in the quit - I hope this helps someone.*

Offline FMBM707

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #130 on: May 16, 2016, 11:24:00 PM »
Quote from: pky1520
So we ended up not shooting - the weather wasn't great and both of my buddies got put on chore duties. However, the weekend went pretty smooth.

I found that the last few days, I've actually been able to get my mind off of tobacco for a few minutes. It's felt that since day 1, I've been thinking about it every waking minute. Not necessarily a crave, but a constant awareness that I was quitting and a feeling like something was missing.

This weekend, I was actually able to do stuff and completely forget about the dip and the quit and focus on what was going on. That's not to say I wasn't regularly reminded, but it was refreshing to find moments of freedom and I hope that becomes more common. I have to think that a lot of early caves come from the fact that the shit just won't leave you alone.

Now, I get that this feeling of freedom had its own potential pitfalls, in that it can lead to complacency or an attitude of "whatever, I've got control over this" so I'll have to be aware of that, but right now I'm just happy to be seeing some light ahead, even if it's just a speck at this point.
Nice work this weekend. Keep making that promise and following through. Keep posting role, keep that shit out of your mouth and know that we will never have control over that shit but we can always control our decisions. Glad you are writing in your intro- keep it up. Quittin' with you today

Offline pky1520

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #129 on: May 16, 2016, 08:55:00 PM »
So we ended up not shooting - the weather wasn't great and both of my buddies got put on chore duties. However, the weekend went pretty smooth.

I found that the last few days, I've actually been able to get my mind off of tobacco for a few minutes. It's felt that since day 1, I've been thinking about it every waking minute. Not necessarily a crave, but a constant awareness that I was quitting and a feeling like something was missing.

This weekend, I was actually able to do stuff and completely forget about the dip and the quit and focus on what was going on. That's not to say I wasn't regularly reminded, but it was refreshing to find moments of freedom and I hope that becomes more common. I have to think that a lot of early caves come from the fact that the shit just won't leave you alone.

Now, I get that this feeling of freedom had its own potential pitfalls, in that it can lead to complacency or an attitude of "whatever, I've got control over this" so I'll have to be aware of that, but right now I'm just happy to be seeing some light ahead, even if it's just a speck at this point.

Offline kubiackalpha

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #128 on: May 14, 2016, 12:11:00 PM »
Quote from: Dagranger
Quote from: worktowin
Quote from: pky1520
Should be an interesting day today. I'm visiting my hometown and hanging out with two of my best friends who are both dippers. I'm actually responsible for introducing both of them to the shit, so obviously I feel great about that. (One of them introduced me to my fiancée and I introduced him to a highly addictive poison that slowly eats your face, shit exchange for him.) I don't think either uses as heavily as I did, but for the last decade, there has always been a can around whenever we've hung out. I told one of them about the quit and he was supportive but skeptical - not unfairly.

We're planning on shooting some clays this afternoon, which is obviously a trigger for me (pun absolutely intended 'Remshot' ). Isn't it fucked that this stuff kind of takes over things we really should be able to enjoy on our own? It's so insidious that we can't even enjoy our favorite things the same way without it.

I'm really not concerned about a cave, in fact I've posted roll, so caving isn't even an option for the next 24 hours. However, this will be the first time I'll be dealing with the peer pressure aspect of the quit. I don't really have any dip buddies where I live now, so being back home will be a good test.

Best of luck to anyone else dealing with a big weekend. Stay focused and stay quit.
You are a bad ass. You are honest, and direct. Keep posting. One day at a time greatness is ahead.
Keep up the logical thinking. There is absolutely NO reason to put a flavored plant in your lips. But your addicted self will come up with all kinds of reasons why that's not true. On a side note, it takes a while but if you do the things you love enough times without dip, you can reprogram your mind to not associate the activity with dip.
No worries, you got this. You have planned. I am sure you planned escape routes (for when the conversation wont go the direction it needs to go). If you need it. Just remember. Between the 100s of thousands of people on here. You can certainly reach one of them. Good luck at the shoot!!!

Offline Dagranger

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Re: Introduction
« Reply #127 on: May 14, 2016, 08:57:00 AM »
Quote from: worktowin
Quote from: pky1520
Should be an interesting day today. I'm visiting my hometown and hanging out with two of my best friends who are both dippers. I'm actually responsible for introducing both of them to the shit, so obviously I feel great about that. (One of them introduced me to my fiancée and I introduced him to a highly addictive poison that slowly eats your face, shit exchange for him.) I don't think either uses as heavily as I did, but for the last decade, there has always been a can around whenever we've hung out. I told one of them about the quit and he was supportive but skeptical - not unfairly.

We're planning on shooting some clays this afternoon, which is obviously a trigger for me (pun absolutely intended 'Remshot' ). Isn't it fucked that this stuff kind of takes over things we really should be able to enjoy on our own? It's so insidious that we can't even enjoy our favorite things the same way without it.

I'm really not concerned about a cave, in fact I've posted roll, so caving isn't even an option for the next 24 hours. However, this will be the first time I'll be dealing with the peer pressure aspect of the quit. I don't really have any dip buddies where I live now, so being back home will be a good test.

Best of luck to anyone else dealing with a big weekend. Stay focused and stay quit.
You are a bad ass. You are honest, and direct. Keep posting. One day at a time greatness is ahead.
Keep up the logical thinking. There is absolutely NO reason to put a flavored plant in your lips. But your addicted self will come up with all kinds of reasons why that's not true. On a side note, it takes a while but if you do the things you love enough times without dip, you can reprogram your mind to not associate the activity with dip.