They just look so happy and content because they have put an end to their withdrawl symptoms.
Nicotine has a very very very short half life. So, when you go a few hours without smoking, your nicotine levels drop pretty low, and you do begin withdrawls in between smoke breaks.. You get edgy and eaily stressed, and maybe antsy.. Do you remember that?
Those folks just look so relaxed because they have put a stop to that. Cigs have no magic stress reliever - except to relieve the stress of withdrawls.
At the time that I quit - i couldn't smoke enough to end the withdrawls. i was considering wearing a patch while I smoked to ease the pressure some. My only option was to quit and get the withdrawls over with. Look at my quit meter - 4 packs a day.. It was non-stop. I wouldn't go back to that for anything. When I had my "last one" for the day, and laid down in bed - I would get angry if I didn't fall alseep imediately, because then I would have to have another "last one" and would I ever get to sleep? If I kept my cigs on my night stand, I would wake in the night with something burning me because I had lit up in my sleep and dropped it in my bed. I still have the same mattress and it's full if cigarrette burns. It makes me cringe every time I change the bedding.
Now - maybe your body wasn't as acidic as mine and you didn't burn off the nicotine as fast (Nicotine is an alkalai) and suffer withdrawls as fast as I did, but you can bet that you did have them when you went for periods without smoking. THAT is why smoking "took the edge off" or "relaxed me" or "eased the stress".
You're over the hard part now - the nicotine is gone out of your body. Now the journey and the work begins. Now you learn new coping strategies, and now you learn to fix the problems that give you stress, and how to make sure you don't feel stressed by using preventative measures.. you organize and get grounded, and put your life together because you don't live behind a smoke screen anymore. It's a good thing - You are about to learn a lot about Deck, and just how much she is capable of! :) We're all very very proud of you!
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/17/2006
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 563
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 42,225
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $10,556.25
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 50 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 7 [B]Seconds:[/B] 31