What Is Help

I always thought help was going to www.killthecan.org and waiting for a new quitter to come to the site or on chat.  I almost felt like I had to see it to be considered help, I had to see the person continue on their quit journey for that help to be considered legit.  I would think that like most, I need to see it to believe it.  This past weekend has made me realize the impact we have can go far beyond the reaches of the site and the brotherhood.

When I hit the hall I felt a strong urge to do something, to make sure I gave back something.  The one thing I did was have business cards printed from the available template, I was going to spread the good news of quitting.  I gave some to my primary care doctor, my dentist, and the oral surgeon who did my tooth implant.  I also gave some to my previous dentist who lectured me about dip, I gave up being mad at him for said lectures.  I was in charge of a booth this weekend at our parish festival, and my oral surgeon signed up to work one night.  I stopped to talk to him just to say thanks for all he did with my tooth.  He asked if I was still nic free and was proud to say I was.  It was here where I learned all about what you can do to help.

He told me a story of a patient who comes in regularly for cancer screenings, 55 year old dipper.  He said this man is on the brink of cancer, told him he was going to have to cut out part of his tongue if he did not quit.  I was somewhat shocked but I wasn’t because I know how powerful the addiction is.  As we finished talking he told me he hands out about 4-5 cards a week that I had given him.  It was here he said, “You have no idea how many people you help by what you do.”  I didn’t think it was a big deal, giving him the cards but his comment made me think about the impact we can have.  I can’t speak for everyone but it’s easy to be a passive helper, when you come in to chat I will be there to help you.  It’s going out and providing the tools to people who want to quit.  Think about the impact each person can have if all they did was write down the address to the site and handed it to their dentist, how many people do you think you could reach?   I wish someone a long time ago had not just given me a lecture on the dangers but offer me assistance.  If you only do one thing to help, tell someone about the site who reaches many.  I will tell you that if you show some passion behind what you have achieved,  people will want to help you spread that.

I know everyone is different, some post roll and that’s it.  There is nothing wrong with that, but if you choose to help just remember, the results you can’t see probably far exceed the ones you can see.

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