Quiting smoking has done wonders for my ability to handle stresses - large and small.
I began noticing this on the 9th day of my quit (I am using NRT, though - so it's other cigarette poison reduction). The kids, especially, don't wear on me as much. But tonight was the real proof that it's not a fantasy!
I was coming home on a country road after spending the previous hour and a half caperoning 6 kids at a McD's Play Place. It was very dark and the fog was as heavy as can be. There was a truck coming toward me in the opposite lane. I noticed something strange around that vehicle, but couldn't begin to tell what it was. I thought it was a dog or deer of something. Then all of a sudden, in my lane, just 20 ft in front of me headlights turn on and some jackass in a small foreign car is heading straight toward my suburban and manages to swerve into it's own lane right in front of a pick-up truck it was passing. We came within just a few feet of having a head-on. What the hell was he thinking? Was he playing chicken with me? Was it a gang initiation to drive head-on into another car with his headlights turned off.....in the fog? That person almost died tonight - what a dummy.
Anyway, before I quit smoking I would have had to pull over and stay there until I could quit shaking and regain my strength - possibly even change my pants. Tonight I was so suprised at how my body responded. I could keep driving, speak, listen, and was barely shaky. What a pleasant change. God I love being smoke free!!!!
My take on one of the benefits,
gpw
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/14/2006
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 11
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 165
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $44
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 28 [B]Seconds:[/B] 50