Hall of Fame Speech Of kevin

I was a slave to Copenhagen for 21 years of my life. I made attempts to quit on several occasions with a record time of 32 days prior to this one. Finding this website has most definitely made the difference. One of the worst things about the quit is not knowing how long the hell will last. Reading previous HOF speeches and the articles, many of my questions were answered. I try to explain this to freinds and relatives that are still chewing, but it is much harder than I could have ever imagined. They dont understand that in a short 100 days they too can be free. To them it seems impossible as it did for me prior to quitting and several times into the quit. One just cant comprehend the freedom until you get here. If you are thinking of quitting, you just have to trust me on this one. Quitting that crap is the best thing I could have ever done, and I too was convinced that I didnt really "want" to quit. That is just the nicotine giving one of many excuses to trick the user into being weak. At any rate, Im here and completely happy about it. I wanted to list a short time line of what to expect. This is how my quit went. Keep in mind that I chewed for 21 years, at some times i might chew 3 cans a week but toward the end, it was more like a can and a half per week. I also didnt drink alcohol for the first week.

Day 1: Not too bad at all.
Day 2-3: Starting to get some heavy craves but still mentally strong enough to pass through them without too much trouble.
Day 4-12: All the usual triggers will kick off a crave at the rate of several per day. (started drinking BIG mistake!) "fog" setting in.
Day 14-20: By far the worst time for me. The "fog" on the brain is at its worst. Very hard to concentrate on anything. Ready to throw in the towel on the quit. The "maybe just one wont hurt"'s kick in. YOU MUST INGNORE IT.
Day 20-30: You are starting to see one whole clean month as a possiblity. The craves get slightly easier. Be aware of the bigger triggers. "fog" begins to lift.
Day 30-60: Craves are getting less and less. You start to feed off of your success which makes it easier to cope. "fog" is gone.
Day 60-80: 90% crave free, however beware of the big ones. You start to get a little cocky. This can be very dangerous. Keep up your guard.
Day 80-100: On the home stretch. Piece of cake, craves are very quickly dismissed. This builds confidence in itself.
Today: I still dont think of myself as a non chewer. I do however see it as a very real possibility. However, I do believe that under the right circumstances I could be tricked into the hell again. I can only hope that this will gradually decrease into nothing.

My defense:

I dont want to die of cancer

I have a very wonderful girlfreind. It would kill me to have to tell her that I failed after the hell that she put up with.

Fake chew for those real rough times. (for me its drinking in bars and hunting and fishing).

Take it one day at a time dont get cocky.

I would like to thank everyone in the October 06 class. There is no way I would have made it without you guys and this site.

God Bless each and every one of you! Stay Quit!