Quitting For a Lifetime One Day At a Time

The man who makes a success of an important venture never wails for the crowd. He strikes out for himself. It takes nerve, it takes a great lot of grit; but the man that succeeds has both. Anyone can fail. The public admires the man who has enough confidence in himself to take a chance. These chances are the main things after all. The man who tries to succeed must expect to be criticized. Nothing important was ever done but the greater number consulted previously doubted the possibility. Success is the accomplishment of that which most people think can’t be done.”

C. V. White

For those of you who have met me in person know that I am usually not ever at a loss for words ~ yet I have started to put down my thoughts about the last 3 plus years now for a little over 3 weeks …. Every time I think I know what I want to convey about this journey all leads me back to the day my brother died . Plain and simple as it is … If my Brother were still Alive I would probably not be a member of this Brotherhood. My support group when I Quit was my brother … I’ve excepted the fact that me being here was meant to be … as much for myself as it is to keep my brothers memory alive.

In 1993 there weren’t any “internet sites” available to provide the tools needed to beat this addiction on a daily basis. There where no “Fake Chew” alternatives or Chat Rooms devoted to taking the first step or having an outlet to get your mind clear … I’ll admit that the circumstances around my daughters birth and previous warnings from my Doctor did play a huge hand in my decision to embark on this Journey but without my brother’s reminders and talks and support I would not have made it for as long as I have.

The day my brother died I stumbled upon the Chat Room on Quit Smokeless in his Office in State College ( I had assumed he had quit chewing around the same time I did ) through the most difficult day of my life I had to tell some of the very people who are here on a daily basis that Cliff had passed away . It still hits me like a ton of bricks every time I think back on the events of that whole day. Not only did the outpouring of sympathy and kindness blow me away but the phone calls and people I didn’t even know checking up on me for months that followed helped me get through that first 6 months after he died. I credit everyone that is involved here either directly or indirectly for the shoulders , hearts and ears that kept me in check ….

What I’ve learned here is that every day you put behind you makes your Quit stronger … 100 days is The Building Block ( Your Cornerstone so to speak ) every day you build towards another 100 you are making another Block … as your Blocks of 100 grow so does the strength of those Blocks … pretty soon the Blocks start to represent a Wall between you and your addiction … as time goes by that Wall becomes Bigger and Taller and Stronger … I don’t know how tall or wide or thick each persons Wall needs to be but I can tell you that watching all of you take each day one at a time enforces every reason I post my daily commitment with you all.

In the early years of my Quit I had only my brother to look out for me …

Today I have countless numbers of people that I can reach out to when I need that shoulder and hopefully you all know you can reach out to me …. I know that Cliff is now looking down keeping an eye on All of you keeping an eye on me …

I thank you all for the strength you give me each and every day ~

Big Brother Jack

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Big Brother Jack