The Ocean

This post is directed at those of you who are here to quit nicotine. Anyone else can leave now and find another thread.

OK, to those remaining here are my words at attaining the Hall of Fame.

I am a nicotine addict and I am also a procrastinator. I poisoned myself for 35 years. I am now a quitter and I have forced myself to be a cheerleader too. The reason for being a cheerleader is that I need to motivate myself every day. If I’ve motivated you to quit with me that is wonderful, but all of the cheerleading is really for myself. I have to own this.

Here is something that I posted to motivate myself on Day 13, during the heart of the suck.

Almost to day 14. There have been a lot of new quitters showing up today and frankly I don’t know who is going to stay quit and who is going to disappear. Some of the introduction threads look a bit shaky but then again I think mine might have been a bit shaky too. I am addicted to nicotine just like everyone else here. We would all be in the same boat, except there is no boat – nicotine just throws us out in the ocean to drown.

I want anyone reading this thread to feel my resolve now. If it pumps you up for another tobacco free day tomorrow so much the better.

Let’s face it, quitting dip is hard BY DESIGN. The companies that make dip need you to be hooked. The governments who tax it need you to be hooked. The only loser is YOU!

I will to be here tomorrow to post my vow on roll. Will you join me?

I look forward to seeing your names with mine.

During my first few weeks here at Kill the Can I sort of had an idealistic vision of this place. I thought of it as a group of people in the ocean linked arm in arm working to get back to shore so that no one drowns. I like that analogy but it is not accurate at all.

There is an ocean and people do drown themselves in it, but there is no shore to swim towards and not everyone here has my arm. Victory is keeping your head above the water each and every day. Nicotine is a shark that can take anyone away at any moment. If I have your arm I can help you beat away the shark. If you have my arm you can help me do the same. If you are bobbing up and down in the ocean by yourself it is just you and the shark. If you are trying to do this alone the shark is probably going to get you eventually.

I want to thank all of you who have my arm and help me keep my head above the water. I’m not going to list all of your names as you already know who you are and that list will keep growing. Knowing that I have each and every one of you to keep me accountable is why I keep coming back here day after day to make my promise. I will do my best to help those who have my arm keep their heads above water too. I owe that to you folks as you have all helped me survive in the ocean.

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Stranger999