Hello all!
I am sorry that I haven't posted for a while. My husband and I are leaving for a cross-country trip (3rd one now) in a week or so, and I have been so busy getting ready.
Today I have been a non-smoker for 50 days!! Yaaay me!! There are so many differences (subtle and not-so-subtle) in my body and my mind since I quit that's it's hard to list them all. To sum up the physical changes........I walk my dog every day, but now I can walk a whole mile without panting for air! I don't wheeze, I don't cough at all, I smell great, my throat never "feels funny", I don't burn my fingers anymore, my teeth are getting whiter, and my brain cells have stopped dying off!
A funny thought just came into my mind as I fired up my puter. In my "smoking life" (40 years of it!) I used to have to clean my desk and computer area once a week with Pine Sol because of the yellowish grime everywhere and the awful stink that cigarettes caused. I washed the ashtray daily because it stunk, and had to vaccuum constantly to get those "flying" ashes all over the floor. It is so nice not to have to do that! Silly thought, but one of HUNDREDS that I have had since my quit, and thoughts like these are showing me over and over the wonderful new life as a non-smoker I have!
And emotional changes? An example is a thought that I had while buying a birthday card for one of my grandaughter's birthday party (she is 11 today). I thought how nice it is going to be to give her a big birthday kiss and not have to be careful to keep my cigarette breath away from her nose! She always turned her head a bit when we kissed, but now I get a BIG kiss and hug from her because, as she says... "Nana, you don't smell like cigarettes anymore". It's the many, many little joys like that that keep me going. I feel like every day is a fresh, new, spring-like day!
One more biggie! On this cross-country trip, it has been miserable grabbing a smoke in the car here and there (hubby quit 23 years ago). He never stopped me, but I hated subjecting him to that, and of having to get "smoking" rooms at hotels and motels that stink! Now I will have more time to enjoy this beautiful country of ours instead of fretting over "how" and "when" my next ciggie will happen.
Sorry for going on and on.........I'm n