A String of Broken Promises
I was almost a month into my 11th year on this earth when I had my first taste of Copenhagen. We were at my best friend’s birthday party on September 3rd, 1977. We had been playing two handed touch (pretty much tackle) football in his front yard and one of our classmates (who was already growing a beard, I swear!) offered me and my best friend a pinch. I began a life of broken promises, he vomited it all up and never touched it again.
After years of stealing and ninja dipping, I promised my mother I would quit when I turned 16. Broken.
I promised my sister I would stop upon graduating high school. Broken.
I met the most wonderful suthern_belle a suthern_gntlman could ever hope to meet a few months after graduation. We began dating and she accepted me and my dip/chew. It was after all, all she had ever known from the other men in her life. She did hate it though.
I promised my beautiful bride I would quit when we got married. Broken.
LumberJackTim was conceived, despite me having a dip in my mouth during conception (I really don’t know if that is true, but it could’ve been). Upon his birth, with a mouthful of dip, I promised suthern_belle I would quit. Broken.
I made all of the appropriate excuses for not stopping. We’ve all said them over and over throughout our lives in slavery to nicotine.
“I’m not hooked, I just don’t really want to quit.” “You quit chocolate, I’ll quit dip.” “I’d rather dip than have cake or pie. At least I won’t get fat.” There are so many others, I could type for days. What it amounts to (you the reader you know this, even if you don’t want to admit it), I am an addict! If you are still grasping on to the master of all evils, nicotine, and reading this. You are an addict too, no matter what lies and excuses you tell yourself and your loved ones!
For me the string of broken promises weighed on my heart.
When Rocky was born. When LJT started sports. When Rocky started sports. When Angel_Caleb was warming in the oven (I had actually been quit for six months when we lost Caleb. Guess what I did 10 minutes after telling Rocky and LJT their little brother did not make it. Yep, I thought inducing myself to a life debilitating substance was the answer to my woes. What it actually was, was a broken promise!).
When Cademan entered the world five years later and gave us a breath of fresh air, I broke another promise to quit not long after.
So, you might be asking, “what was it that finally motivated your quit?”
Well, I’ll tell you.
Seeing both LJT and Rocky a slave to the substance and looking into the innocent eyes of Cademan pushed me over the edge. This time I made no promises. I just quit.
A month later, as I was sucking on dip, I noticed that Rocky had quit. One BAQ (Bad A$$ Quitter) Rocky is. He dropped it for his Princess and has been quit for about as long as LJT!
I also noticed my LumberJack son Timbo was quit and I asked him about it. He told me about KillTheCan and I threw away $50 (+/-) worth of Skoal pouches, joined and posted my day one!
My string of broken promises was not over though. This is where the moral of the story kicks in.
If there is one piece of advice I can give to you the almost quitter reading this, or my newly quit brother/sister, it is this. GET INVOLVED! Don’t sit back on your laurels and watch KTC pass you by without interacting and getting to know your family here.GET INVOLVED!
My cautionary tale does not end here. It is just beginning! After 330 days of P&G (Posting and Ghosting), I broke another promise to not dip. I caved.
Look, it’s the same cycle. Over and over and over again. Nicotine is the devil and will do anything to get its hooks in you and make you think everything will be just fine as-is. IT WON’T!
One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, is look my oldest son in the eyes and tell him I had caved after posting 330 days… and all because I was not truly a quitter, I was just going along for the ride.
As of this date (7/5/2016) I am 104 days nicotine free. I promise I will not let her claws dig into me today! I am quit One Day At A Time (ODAAT) and I wake up every day, sit on the porcelain throne and post my promise to my brothers in July 2016, The Phalanx. In other words, I Wake Up Piss Post (WUPP)! I also post as many days as I can with my former brothers in August 2015, the A-Team (nomore thanks for your kindness during my struggles) and with my son, who I am extremely proud of, LumberJackTim and by extension to him JonathanSmallBerries, in July 2015, The Jackals.
Richard K and sbdvr70 of The Phalanx have been instrumental in my success and a special shout out to jayperks. Thank you for allowing me to help you.
All of this is great, but the most important thing about today, is my string of broken promises is stopped!
I encourage every one of my brothers to write their HOF speech. It is a continuation of digging that quit hole (thanks for that WildIrish).
If you are reading this and have just recently joined KTC. Get involved. Don’t sit back on your hands and watch it all pass you by. You are entering the ghostly halls of re-treadville if you do.
To all of you visitors. Put it down. Just spit it out right now and put it down. Join this wonderful group of quitters, post your day one and never be a slave to nicotine again!
Suthern_gntlman
NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member suthern_gntlman
