Chew / No Chew – Wisdom Gained One Day at a Time
As I reflect back on my life as a chewer, there are many lessons I have learned and with that wisdom I plan to stay quit.
Chew – A close community will help you get what you want
I grew up in small town Iowa where 80% of the guys chewed tobacco and about 20% of the girls. From there my story is not much different than most of the people who come to this site. I was 13 when I went to the closest minimart and bought my first can of chew. Can’t remember the brand, but I do remember it was 35 cents. The year was 1979 and even for those under 18, chewing tobacco was acquired easily. Quit off
Chew Free – A close community will help you get what you want
If you want something surround yourself with those that will allow you to achieve it. Coming to KTC was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The support here has been amazing and has played a large part in my quit. When everyone around is striving for the same goal, that goal becomes more attainable. Today I am quit!
Chew – Work hard and you can overcome any obstacle
Started with a dip here and there, was not able to chew all of the time because spitting was not always acceptable. Then I came up with a brilliant idea, if I learn to swallow the dip, I could do it all of the time! So one afternoon in 10th grade science a buddy of mine and I decided to give it a try. We put very little in our mouth and learned over the next few weeks that we could actually do this and not get sick. This enabled me to have tobacco in my mouth all of the time. Quit off
Chew Free – Work hard and you can overcome any obstacle
Quitting was not easy, but I understood from the beginning that it was going to take hard work to overcome this addiction. From day one I pledged to do this one day at a time. Some of those days were quite rough and I still expect to have rough days in the future, but, I always believed that the best things in life are acquired through hard work. My plan for the future is to continue one day at a time and overcome any obstacles that come in my way, because today I am quit!
Chew – Friends will take care of you in a time of need
My first pause was when I was in the Army. We were going to the Mojave Desert for a 45 day field exercise. I decided that was the time and prepared to go on the exercise with no chew in hand. I figured it would be almost impossible to acquire it there. Things were going fantastic, about 2 weeks into the exercise we were running a convoy in blackout drive. Some idiot towards the front of the convoy turned on his/her lights. As and MP my job was to enforce blackout drive. So in my Humvee I proceeded to pass the vehicles in the convoy to catch up with the idiot. The ground started getting very rough so I let off the gas, too late. The Humvee rode up a large bolder and flipped over.
My Captain was so mad at me he made me stay out in the desert for 4 days guarding the Humvee till a tow truck was able to recover it. I convinced myself that I needed chew to overcome the stress of the situation and a “friend” of mine was able to acquire it for me. Quit off
Chew Free – Friends will take care of you in a time of need
I was sitting at my desk at work when my wife gave me a call. Not really sure what the initial reason for the call was, but I do remember the question she asked and my answer. My wife asked when I was finally going to quit, my answer was “right now”. I proceeded to spit out my dip and throw the rest of the can away. That was the easy part, now I needed to find some like-minded individuals to share the pain with. I searched over the internet and found KTC. Support came out of the woodwork to support me in my decision to quit. Many of these supports are now my friends. Friends really do help you in your time of need. Today I am quit!
Summary
I find it amazing how I view things differently now that I am 100 days free. I never realized how much of my life was wrapped around and anchored by a can. Above is just some of the wisdom I have gained, I am sure over the next months and years I will gain more.
If you are just starting your quit or have been quit for a long time today, just like the last 100 days, I quit one day at a time with you…my friends.
NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Quit
