Eric71 HOF – Not a Speech

I don’t do speeches. I don’t have any miraculous words of wisdom since I crossed over the threshold of 100 days. I have a journal of entries from the last 100 or so days that can show anyone the gamut of feelings and emotions that I went through on my way here. I have some motivational posts, some rants, some of the same shit we’ve all seen, read, felt, and endured.

So what is here? What is the Hall of Fame for? What does it mean to me?

Here is the residing place for those of us who have endured a battle with addiction. Here is a place we can feel a sense of accomplishment. Here is a spot to acknowledge to ourselves and others that we may be on to a method of beating back a ruthless killer if we stay vigilant. Here is a place where our battles are now looked upon with respect and our words somehow have more meaning to others.

The Hall of Fame is for those who feel as though they have won or are winning the battle with nicotine. It is a place to hang our proverbial hats at the end of the day. It is a place where we are respected for our journey. It is our journeyman’s card at the end of our apprenticeship. It is our diploma at end of our educational road. It is our ticket to ride.

It is not the opening of the gate to lead us out to pasture. It is not the retirement plaque hanging on the wall. It is not the gold watch for all the years of service. It is our obligation and duty to continually pay it forward to reach out and guide a new batch of quitters each and every day to become what we are. We made it here with a load of support and guidance and wise words. We made it here through live chat sessions and late night calls and texts. We made it here because someone cared about our quit when we could not.

The Hall of Fame designation is not to be taken lightly. I will continually do what got me here. Rise, post, repeat. Not rocket science, not overly difficult. There are times in life when we need to be shepherds and times when we need to be sheep. The Hall is a time when we need to be both. It is our task to be a shepherd to not only new quitters, but to those who have lost that desire, and to those we walked with on our way here. There are days when we will be required to lead the troops to battle. We need to be up to that honor. We stay up to that by being a sheep. By not straying from the path. By posting roll daily. How do you become more proficient at something? Do it repeatedly, over and over. Learn its nuances, its subtleties, what makes it tick. We all learned how nicotine took over our systems. She studied us. Knew our weaknesses and knew when to attack.

What have we learned to combat our enemy? We learned about ourselves, what makes us tick, what makes us crave, what makes us resistant, what makes us strong. We learned when to lean and when to be leaned on. We learned when to fight and when to defer. We learned when to speak and when to listen. We learned what it takes to keep us quit. We now have to take that to those who are seeking that same empowerment. We are the shining city on a hill. We are the prototypes. We cannot become complacent. We will strive for improvement. We will be quit. We are KTC.

I need to thank all of those who helped me walk this road. Those who walk with me everyday. My mentors, my fellow brethren in October 2012, those who took the time to drop me a note every once in a while in my thread, and those who got me numbers to call for the just in case. To those and others who send texts just because, know your efforts never go unnoticed, your words never taken lightly, and your commitment to a veritable stranger never forgotten. I thank all of you and take up my sword and shield to defend the honor of our word to beat back addiction every day. This is no time for celebration. Victory will be at the end of our long road of life when we all can look back and see a life lived to its fullest and not one more day spent chained to the death of addiction.

I, for one, am not going to sit idle in my chair and wait for life to come save me. I am on a mission to save my life!

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Eric71