The Most Emotional Day of My Quit – The Comma

Lumberjack Tim celebrating his new comma with some sushi and hibachi at Yume in Oxford, Alabama.

I honestly can’t believe I’m writing this right now… Can’t help but get a little emotional even thinking about it…

On this day, January 2nd, 2018, I am on Day 1,000 of being nicotine free.

I can vividly remember sitting in an old white F-150 at work, taking a break and Googling “How to quit dipping”. Luckily for me, I found a website called “Kill The Can” (www.killthecan.org). When I finally decided to man up and actually quit, I read a lot of stuff. There’s a section on the Quit Forum (https://ktcforum.org/) called “Hall of Fame Speeches”, where people would post a tidbit when they hit 100 Days, and it would give me confidence. It would give me the ability to simply stay quit for today, and not worry about tomorrow until tomorrow gets here. 100 Days seems like a very long time to stay quit when you first start, but you can convince yourself that it’s manageable.

But… There’s also a section where quitters who reach 1,000 Days and join the “Comma Club” post a little tidbit, should they choose to do so. I could read all of those I wanted, but the folks who wrote them seemed so far ahead of me. I always thought “1,000 days??? But that’s so far away!!!” I honestly still think that, if I’m being honest with myself. I truly can’t believe I’m where I am today.

There are so many people on Kill The Can who have helped me in my quit. They always tell you that you have to “quit for yourself”, but I truly and honestly wouldn’t have gotten this far without their support.

So if you’re someone like me 1,000 Days ago, and you’re thinking “There’s no way I could stay quit for that long”, think again. All you have to do is quit today. Once you make it to sleep, that day is over, then start over the next. If you even SORT OF think you want to quit, then I encourage you to become a member of Kill The Can like I did. If this has helped you in any way, then feel free to message me (Lumberjack Tim, part of the July 2015 HOF group) on the Quit Forum (https://ktcforum.org/, and I will be right there quitting next to you, one day at a time.

Before I end this, I’d like to give a little shout-out to my dad Max (suthern_gntlman, part of the July 2016 HOF group) as he is on Day 650 today. My dad has dipped since he was in 5th grade, so getting him on Kill The Can and quit has been one of the greatest achievements of my life. Just wanted to share that last bit.

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Lumberjack Tim