Never Be Ashamed of a Scar – Kramer HOF
Never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.
At 41 years old, I’ve got some scars. My addiction to chewing tobacco is but one of them them. I am no longer ashamed to admit that I am addicted to chewing tobacco because I have created an enormous web of accountability to stay quit every damn day. I am no longer ashamed to admit that I am addicted to chewing tobacco because I know that I can rely on the brotherhood here to pick me up when I am down. I am no longer ashamed to admit that I am addicted to chewing tobacco because the KTC community I now belong to is full of BAQs who lead by example every day.
But I was ashamed to admit that I was addicted to chewing tobacco for a very long time. In fact, my ninja dipping was was so good that my own wife thought I had quit over twelve years ago. Imagine her surprise when she learned that my trips to the office after we had put the boys to bed or on the weekends were largely to dip (we have a computer at home so there really is no need for me to work at the office at night). Or that my late night tv watching habit was really to dip (because we have a tv in our bedroom). Really, I was so ashamed to admit that I was addicted to chewing tobacco that my ninja dipping ways almost cost me my marriage because my wife and I had grown so distant because we hardly spent any time together without the boys around because I was ninja dipping all the time. And then she grew to resent me because I was always so tired in the mornings that I did not help get the boys out the door to school or otherwise help with things around the house (because I was either too tired or not there).
We hit a real crisis point in November and I finally started to see the err in my ways so I decided to change because my family was more important. Needless to say, KTC and my brothers in quit are a large part of getting me to this point because it really is hard to quit alone even after one has resolved to quit so I am humbled by this experience and thankful that I found KTC and each of you.
Always remember, never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.
NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member kramer
