Observations From a 100+ Day Quitter

KTC brethren

I’m humbled to be writing this speech as it seemed an unreachable goal 103 days ago. Amazingly, 100 days went by fast, not that there were bumps in the road-there were. I took it day by day and suddenly there it was, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. I cruised in from around day 90 and life is grand. Right now.

I won’t give you the details of how I got here 100 days ago, everyone’s story is mostly the same, but the main thing is that you are here reading this. So, you are either a quitter or thinking about it.

My speech is aimed at the folks thinking about quitting. I too was thinking about quitting 103 days ago. I found the site and immediately strolled into the chat room. There were a few guys in there who asked if I was dipping. I was awake so of course I was. Of course, that pissed them off so I took it out. The thing that I still think of to this day was the phrase they kept asking: “What are you waiting for?” That hit home very quickly. Within 10 minutes I was dumping tins in the john and flushing them.

The journey of 100 days was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. And I was proud once Dec 30 rolled around. That day I got my coin and there’s three words on it that sum up my quit:

Accountability-This is the absolute 100% reason why this quit will be my last. Posting roll with the December Guard and supporting the other new groups made me accountable. Funny how accountability to myself or my wife a few years ago didn’t work. Now I promise that I won’t dip to a bunch of strangers and it works.

Brotherhood-I don’t know most of the guys in KTC, but I’ve made some friends within and outside my December group. Knowing that we are all in the same situation helped enforce accountability. It sucks for all of us. And knowing there’s guys that are counting on me to post roll and if I don’t post by noon, they are texting or calling. I did the same for them.

Success-The first two words are huge to the success of my quit. But there’s two other factors that play into it. I finally realized that I was an addict. For 22 years I never believed that. Lastly, and this may be the biggest factor, quitting happens one day at a time. All you have to do is get through each day. At first its hard, then it gradually gets easier. I never had that mindset in my previous quits. It was always, how am I going to quit for a month, a year, forever?? Its one day at a time.

There’s a ton of people that I’m thankful for that have helped me. Thanks to the guys in chat 100 days ago (RadTech04, gator, redtrain, seth) to name a few. BaitBanjo, Ryan, kbdave, Signal, thanks for keepin an eye on me! Mrs Tarpon also gets kudos for her understanding and patience. December GUARD, you guys are the best group in KTC!

For those ready to make the commitment, this site and its philosophy work. I’m one of many that have succeeded. It’s been hard and I have a long way to go, but I’ll continue making my daily promise and thats easy.

tarpon

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member tarpon17