Big Red’s HOF Speech
I have no idea how to start something like this. I knew the HOF speech section was always around and when I hit 100 days I decided that I was not going to write one. Hitting 100 days is a great achievement, but I thought that it was too early for me to reflect on my quit journey at that moment in time.
For those of you who do not know, during the last Christmas season I went to see my dentist for a routine checkup. In the past, it always ended with him saying “Hey, whatever you are doing keep it up, the mouth looks great!”; so that is what I did, for years I would laugh and throw a dip in when I was still in the parking lot. Karma’s a bitch right, because instead of him saying that, I was being handed contact information for an oral surgeon. That same week I found myself meeting with this surgeon and it did not even take him more than 10 seconds to look at me and say yeah, we must do a surgery. Here comes the funny (or shall I say stupid) part, I told the surgeon I did not dip much and my appointment for the surgery was not for another 2 months or so. Guess what? I dipped my ass off those next two months because I knew I was not going to be able to dip while I was in recovery and I was more concerned with not being able to dip when I was recovering, than looking at the bigger picture. Fast forward to Tuesday, March 14th I was sitting in the operating chair and that is where it finally hit me that I was so naive and I was the only one to blame. I was 22 years old and have already had my first surgery due to tobacco. Let me tell you, that pain was awful; I decided I never wanted to go through this pain again. As I sat on my couch that week I was stumbling through nicotine withdraw symptoms and came across KTC and joined the June Quit Mafia. Best thing that could have happened to me and well, you all know the rest.
Two weeks ago, I was sitting in some lecture and I was just leaning against my backpack. After a few minutes I noticed I was grabbing onto this lump in my bag and I got excited! I was thinking to myself, “Sweet, some Smokey Mountain that I forgot about”. I unzipped the small compartment, and I pulled out an un-cracked can of Copenhagen. I through it back into my bag almost immediately and went on with my day. When I got back to my apartment, I took the can out of my backpack and opened it. I completely forgot about this can that I had bought some months back, and it was almost like I was being tested. I un-cracked the can and put it up to my nose and took a huge whiff, and instantly was disgusted and turned it over, and watched it fall into the trash can. After being quit, going back and smelling a can was one of the worst smells ever. At that moment I knew I could write this because I know I am committed to this quit, it is not just a sham.
For those of you who are brand new to KTC the best advice I can give to you is invest yourself into the website. Take the time to make those relationships with others, step up in your quit group, or just a simple accountability text in the morning. Investing yourself into KTC is one of the best things you can do because not only are you helping and supporting others in their quit, but you are making your quit that much stronger. By supporting others and holding them accountable, in return they will do the same for you. If you are thinking the physical and mental side effects that come along with quitting are hard and suck, you are right! Day 4 was by far the worst day of my quit thus far; I had a migraine that made me sick to my stomach, but it gets better! Once you invest yourself into the website you will soon realize that there are hundreds if not thousands of quitters who have experienced what you are going through that will help you every step of the way. Investing yourself is the key, don’t quit alone.
What I am going to talk about next is something that I find to be the most important part of my quit. I was in the chat room with a few new guys and some vets; I was on day 40 or so? Well, some new guy came into chat saying he liked dipping but did not know if he could quit or not and one of the vets said, “That next dip you put in your mouth can be the one that gives you cancer”. That right there hit home with me, hard. You are literally gambling your life every time you put that crap into your mouth. I mean think about that, how long did you chew for? Year’s, right? When you hear that (when I heard that) it scared the living crap out of me because I was putting that crap in my mouth for six long years. Go back to that chat conversation, the same vet who said that line, shared this video of Sean Marsee CLICK THIS . After you read this, I ask that you please take the 13 minutes out of your day and watch this video if you haven’t before. After you watch it, show your kids, friends, family, you name it; this video is powerful, and it can potentially help someone take that first step in quitting or staying away from this crap altogether. So, if you ever are hitting a rough patch and you think going back to the can will fix your problems, think of this video and that line I shared with you, reach out to one of your quit buddies and ask for help, never go back.
Like I said get invested with other members, whether you are new or not, send me a message via PM and shoot me your digits. I will add you to my daily quitter texting list and will be someone that will be there for you if you need help or just want to talk.
NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Big Red 77
