Hey fellow quitters,
This is late but things have to happen sometimes to inspire words. My posts and learnings after 66 quit days inspired me.
I'm well into my quit now striving for 100 days tobacco free but there was a thread in March 2018 started by one of my April 18 quit brothers Bigslim....lots of great communication. I took it as an opportunity to reach out privately to Bigslim with digits because I remember him reaching out early to me....a total stranger but common goal to rid oneself of this awful addiction we all have.
I also want to share something with everyone. I shared with Bigslim and some of you already know this from me but I'm writing this introduction for future Newbies to be able to hear my story. Yes, I want to pay this forward. Newbies will see and learn acronyms like ODAT, QWYT, WUPP, PAWS etc....part of this quit is proactiveness to learn from others who quit before you, study their process of addiction, learn about your own addiction, make a promise 1 day at a time to stay off nicotine, learn how to reconcile your own addiction and stay in recovery for the rest of your life and invest in other total strangers recovery which in turn becomes a part of your recovery. If I've missed some steps, so be it, the journey is yours to own......important thing is that everyone is connected in their journey out of addiction, studying it, sharing your experience and embracing an approach that works..... if you value accountability, support and learning then you will survive your addiction to nicotine. I came to KTC because I was too weak to beat tobacco on my own.
FACT 1- I have learned and accepted that I'm an addict. I needed to write that....it's true. I needed help, KTC is providing that help, even if I fail someday, although I'm not planning to fail tomorrow or in future, today I've stayed quit, tomorrow will eventually be today and I'll post roll and my promise to stay quit on THAT DAY and make it through TO THE NEXT day.
FACT 2- 46 years of age now but I've used tobacco since high school, started and finished with Skoal, cigarettes in between, but college athletes don't smoke but other forms of tobacco ok?!?!? Everyone playing football and baseball dips. 25 years later, here I am with a wad of shit in my mouth. I was coming from a 7 month solo quit and a 9 month cave before finding KTC....yes, quit solo for 7months, then shit my pants and caved then I found KTC in Jan 2018....imagine that....100 days is nothing but dont look at it like that....it's day by day, that pain we all having will pass....but u can't let your guard down any day, any time.....we all quit every day, forever....the quit never stops....we all have to come to grips with that fact. Ive helped a few buddies quit drinking, cocaine, pills, weed and gambling. These guys joined groups, saw doctors and therapists.....SO DID I, it's called KTC. Tobacco seems to get underadvertised as an addiction....other drugs of choice have greater connotations of evil. Tobacco is just as evil and destructive. Say these words every day, "we are no better than heroin, cocaine, alcohol or meth addicts".....fucked up thing is that Tobacco is legally sold at every corner convenience store....think about that too.
Fact 3- Went to doctor in March 2018. 3 month checkup. Bastard hounds me every 3 months with blood work. My issues have been weight (at age 45. 6-4 300lb no good), played at 265lb, have had trouble getting it off. Issues started to boil last few years with sugars, Cholesterol, BP.....Skoal isn't good for all this stuff. Found out from him that Skoal, especially the volume I used at, can cause diabetes, fucks with bodys ability to process. I've remained active, believe or not I've run 3 half marathons in last 5years, fat guys sometimes can move Ok. Doc has been cool with Quit, had his own issues with Cope years ago. Happy to report, I got down to 250 over last 3 months and with Quit all my blood issues are gone. Got 25lbs left to shed, stay quit, keep hitting the weight room and treadmill. SKOAL is a motherfucker, just wanted everyone to know it's not just cancer that dip fucks you on....it's your entire body's health that's on the line. I had to get kicked in the teeth by a doctor to realize my addiction was going to kill me.
HEAD UP, STAY QUIT.....WE ALL QUIT TODAY AND PROUD TO BE QUIT WITH EVERYONE.
DAVE- Aka DOOFUS
Ps- Now you all know why I picked DOOFUS as a name....7 month solo quit and I CAVED...DOOFUS move:) More like an addict move. It is what is....fail, pick yourself up....then choose not to fail. Failure is a choice but it's what you do after you fail that matters. STAY QUIT.
