Win Today’s Battle

I once read a book, about the Navy SEAL training program known as BUDs. If you’re not familiar, the training is basically hell, swimming in the frigid pacific, rolling around in the sand and running 15 miles covered in sand. I hate comparing me quitting tobacco to the most elite military training schools in the world, but one piece of that book stuck out to me. In the book the author says that the way he makes it through the hell that is BUDs is to just make it to the next meal. Small bites, just make it to the next meal without washing out. Once I joined KTC, on my 21st day, I read someone somewhere on KTC say “embrace the suck” this got me to thinking about how to approach the suck that is quitting nicotine. I decided to approach it as just making it to the next meal, from there, the next milestone in my day. This continued until the days started adding up. On day 75 CraigD41 said something that resonated profoundly with my quit, “I still rationalize with myself every time I get a craving. Just told myself if I lived to 80 I’d start up again. What a dumbass addict. I’ll keep fighting the bitch one day at a time. Win all the battles and probably never win the war.” From there, I changed my mentality from trying to stay quit until the next meal, to just winning whatever battle was in front of me at any given moment. That mentality is what has carried me to the HOF, just another simple step within a lifetime of quit.

Thanks to Wepdoc for all his guidance, wisdom, and time, without him I’m not sure I’d still be at KTC. Thanks to CavMan83 for being the first person to reach out and keeping me in line. Thanks to JpQuit for helping me through some serious anxiety issues at the beginning of my quit, I owe you big time brother. Thanks to KChad90, ViceDawg, Jeffro, Elizabeth529, and all the boys of March for all the support and hours of entertainment. Thanks to Miker0351, for being the one to push me over the edge to actually write this speech even if he didn’t say a word to me about it (your speech is what did it). Thanks to Gentgeen for all the support, and comedic relief. Thanks to FullMetalSloth for being the rallying point March needed to get our shit together. Most of all, thanks to my Gramps for finally being the one to get me to quit, whether he knew it or not.

I will wrap this up with a quote from the greatest QB in the history of football:

“Too often in life, something happens and we blame other people for us not being happy or satisfied or fulfilled. So the point is, we all have choices, and we make the choice to accept people or situations or to not accept situations.” -Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.

I don’t feel quit, and I’m not sure I ever will, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I’ll just keep winning all the battles and probably never win the war.

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Clemte