Ready - Day 418
This is a fine summary of the first month or so originally posted by 7Iron I believe. While I was reading it, I could have sworn I wrote it. I made it through some tough times with the help of the quitters in here.
"To those of you currently in your second month:
Congratulations on a month free of tobacco. You should be proud of yourself for you have fought hard and succeeded at doing something few have attempted and even fewer have accomplished. Do not lose focus and do not let your guard down. You cannot coast, but you can draw strength from the success of the first month and allow that confidence to propel you into the second.
I should also warn you that many have experienced a boredom phase during the second month. I hit the bored stretch right at 50 days. Something changed in the life of my quit where I just got tired of everything. Tired of reading, tired of posting, tired of thinking, tired of quitting ... I just ran out of steam. I started to really struggle and had a “is this really worth it?” attitude. "Perhaps a short hiatus from this quit - get my mind and my life settled a bit, then I'll start again." Part of me just wanted to give in and go back to the can. Lots of lies were being told within the confines of my mind, but I recognized them as lies. The truth remained that I was better off without tobacco. I KNEW I was - I really did, but my mind kept trying to play tricks on me.
You see, during the first 30 days, each day is tough for its own reasons, but it's like we have a real enemy to wage war against. There is "fuel" to keep us fighting and staying motivated is relatively easy.
Where are you in your quit? 30, 40, 50 days? This has been hard ... THE hardest thing you've ever done, right? Certainly you are tired, exhausted. You have every right to be. This is hard, demanding work. You get no breaks - you must continue to fight ... every day, morning, noon and night through every trigger, every stress and all the boredom. Everything you used to do, your entire life, involved tobacco. It made boring tasks bearable. It helped perk you up when you were groggy. It helped calm you down when you were stressed. It made the good times more enjoyable.
Lies, lies, lies ... and you believed them ... all of them.
Now you know better, but you have been conditioned for so long ... 10, 20, 30 years or more. It is going to take time brothers. The last 30, 40 or 50 days seem like a lifetime. I know. I went through it too.
In order to get through this boredom phase you need to keep your quit alive. Remember why you quit. Remember what tobacco has taken from you. Your health, your money, time away from your friends and family, your self respect, peace of mind ... the list goes on. Doesn't that piss you off? It should!!!!
Use that to keep your quit alive. It is important that you remember the difficulties of quitting. You need to make sure that the pain and heartache you are currently experiencing are never forgotten. Our minds, over time, have a way of softening the hard edges. There is nothing soft or easy about quitting smokeless tobacco. Commit to memory the agony of these first few weeks.
That being said, the first month probably felt like three. I remember constantly looking at my watch wondering how time could possibly be going so slow. It is important that you also recognize this principle ... "every step away from tobacco is one step closer to freedom." You need to simply put some distance between yourself and your past associations with snuff. Build dip free memories and by so doing, you will be breaking the strings that tie you to your tobacco past.
This is an important one too ... "the only thing tobacco is good for, is keeping you addicted to tobacco!" You need to realize that you simply do not need tobacco. It will not make you a better athlete, business person, sibling or parent. It may seem like it helps you, but all it really will do is elevate your blood pressure, raise your heart rate, make you more prone to anxiety and increase your risk of cancer.
Also, there are lots of new quitters joining every day. Remember your first week? They could use some help, an encouraging word, someone to let them know that their experiences are normal and understandable. Lending a hand to a brother or sister in need will help keep your quit at front and center."
( 7Iron)
