If You Limit Your Choices… All That Is Left Is Compromise
“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want. And all that is left is compromise.” Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend I came up with that. Robert Fritz provided that quote but it really doesn’t matter who said it. The words are on a page here. You’re reading it. You get to choose your fate. It’s called free will. Only, it’s not free. There is a price to pay. A price you pay when you don’t exercise it. A price to pay when you do. My question to you is have you determined whether the price to pay for not quitting, is higher than the price you pay for quitting? I can tell you all the terrible things chewing tobacco has messed up for me or the anguish it has caused me. But that’s my life, and my reasons. Children, marriage, blah blah blah (think Charlie Brown’s teacher). If you spent any time looking into how nicotine can negatively impact you, you know already. What are you waiting for?
I know for me, at times, I didn’t commit to doing it because I didn’t want to fail myself again. Those are the most painful failures. When you fail to keep a promise to yourself. Well guess what? Not exercising your free will, it will haunt you too. So, instead of going over all the ugliness that nicotine has caused in my life and all the reasons I used to quit or not quit, I hope I can pass on to you a couple more things. Just pick one excuse. It only takes one excuse to flush you right down the toilet in life. If you just pick one, and ride that pony till she drops, then there is hope that you may someday try to address the one thing, and free yourself. When you join this KTC.org and find your group, its all for one and one for all. Sure, in the beginning it seems like nobody is really looking out for you but this is part of what makes this thing successful. You must want it, and make no mistake, the first days and weeks will test your level of ‘want.’
One of my largest concerns was the public nature of this forum and that it was like group therapy. My limited experience with any kind of therapy was negative. This is NOT group therapy. There is no licensed shrink trying to shrink your head. There are only people that have gone through exactly what you are about to go through, people that log in every day, and give their time every day, sometimes to bust your chops, and sometimes to pull you up off the mat. Then you have your team, your quit group. You will lose some, especially in the early weeks. You’ll get to know some more than others. Some of you will exchange contact information to keep each other going. It’s not group therapy. It’s not a group hug either. It’s a place to get your *hit in one bag and check in on that nasty habit to make sure it never comes back. Not one more day. One day at a time, before she says, I’m your huckle bearer!
-Huckleberry (HOF Class of Feb 26)
NOTE: This piece written by Huckleberry
