To: Anyone Willing To Listen – My Two Cents

Today I reached 100 days without ingesting nicotine. I’ve beaten a countless number of cravings in that span. I’ve even been offered nicotine at least on 10 occasions in those 100 days, and without hesitation I refused. Sure, life now as an addict has its drawbacks, I have to constantly have my guard up and I know that a split second decision can and will eventually lead me back to life before these 100 days. But, the joy of it all now is the small things that have changed in those 100 days. Since I quit, I have started running 3 to 7 miles every other day, and I feel incredibly more active. I also haven’t had to make excuses or lies up just to sneak a dip in for 10 minutes to get my fix, even though 10 minutes was never enough. I never have to feel embarrassed that I put in a lip in public. I even get a slight chuckle every time I tell someone they should quit today and their response is something along the lines of, “I want to quit…but I have a lot of things going on right now.” Some people go there whole lives saying this to themselves and others. I’m proud of myself and fellow quitters at this point to have gotten out of the vile web that nicotine casts. A lot of our fellow addicts are not so brave. I distinctly remember when I first joined KillTheCan, what struck me the most were the pictures of mouth and throat cancer. Every now and then I revisit those pictures, as it keeps my quit strong. (For those of you on your way to 100, I want to let you know that the strength of your quit will waiver if you do not take actions to improve it. I recommend revisiting ideas or things that made your quit strong in the first place or getting in touch with your fellow group members.) Our community of quitters has a lot of stories to tell. There are stories of quitting, of addiction, of break-ups, cancer, survival, death, continuation of life, good times, bad times, and new found love of life. If you are here thinking about quitting the can, or just beginning your quit journey, the best thing I can recommend is to read these stories. I say this, because the more you read, you will eventually find a story that sounds like your story, or a story that scares you, or one that makes you happy, maybe even one that really pisses you off. After reading these stories you pick up on the effects of addiction and realize how that addiction is affecting your life. The hope is that one of these stories gives you a strong reason to quit for yourself.

For those of you who want to know my story, I started smoking at 18, dipping at 19. Did both for a year and a half. Quit smoking, kept dipping until 100 days ago. I tried quitting about 5 separate serious occasions. Twice on the patch, the other 3 cold turkey, one of those times I quit for about a month. What changed this time around was about 2 days into my quit I found this site. I was looking for ways to quit chewing in Google and this site popped up. I read around the site and decided to start posting role. I wasn’t sure if this was going to work, but I wanted to give it a try. I posted my intro and got a lot of support from my fellow quitters. And then I kept reading and posting, I even started helping other newcomers with their quit. My first 3 days were hell, I felt like I was going to snap at anyone and everyone. But as time goes on it gets better. The craves do get farther apart, it’s all mental now.

I feel that my time on this site has given me a nice quit toolbox, and I hope to lend and share those tools with those who need them. I plan on sticking around this group of bad-ass quitters, because I wouldn’t be 100 days quit without them. If for any reason you feel like reaching out to me, please do not hesitate. I would like nothing more than to help someone make a decision that will improve their life. For those who don’t know me, my name is Jason, I am a nicotine addict. WE are nicotine addicts and I invite you to be quit with me TODAY.

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