Notícias | - 6:56 pm
According to the American Lung Association, smoking is the number one cause of preventable disease and death worldwide.
Smoking-related diseases claim more than 480,000 lives in the U.S. each year. Smoking costs the U.S. at least $289 billion each year, including at least $151 billion in lost productivity and $130 billion in direct healthcare expenditures. It is also estimated that in 2030 the total number of victims per year will reach 8 million, 80% of which are in developing countries.
Smokers live an average of ten years less than non-smokers, since the substances contained in tobacco smoke affect some important organs and make the organism more fragile and relative to a series of diseases.
Tobacco is responsible for 25 to 30% of all upper respiratory tract cancers (lip, tongue, mouth, pharynx and larynx); 80 percent of cases of chronic bronchitis; 90 percent of cases of lung cancer; 20 percent of coronary heart disease mortality; in addition, cardiovascular diseases are 2 to 4 times more frequent among smokers.
Smoking did nothing but add to my emptiness
I had addictions that began in my early teens and although I would give up smoking and drinking for a while –they would be the first things I turned to, the minute I was stressed and felt like I couldn’t cope.
It was the first thing I turned to, the minute I was stressed and felt like I couldn’t cope.
This was my life for so many years and I didn’t see anything wrong with it because everybody I knew did the same. I used to think that if you have amazing, talented kids, a rewarding career, and the material possessions that you wanted at the time, then you’d be happy and life would be great. But this was not the case… I was unhappy and had an emptiness that wouldn’t go away. It didn’t matter how intoxicated I was, or how many loved ones surrounded me, the emptiness remained. I arrived at the universal church with a lot of resentment and grudges toward people that seem to accumulate each year.
This started to change from the very first night I entered the Universal Church. I believed God was there and that He would answer my prayers and do great things. Every time I attended, the message was uplifting and powerful. Oftentimes, so powerful, that the words were spoken actually related to the problems I was facing and the emotions I was experiencing.
Nowadays, I am free from all addictions, I forgave all who hurt me and then learned to forgive myself. The emptiness I once had is now filled because I discovered that emptiness or void was actually the absence of God in my life. I know the only solution for my life is Jesus Christ! It is Him that I turn to first and foremost for strength, for peace of mind, for courage, wisdom, and guidance.
– Antoinette
I was addicted for 30 years
For three decades of his life, Manuel took refuge in cigarettes as a way of trying to fill the empty feeling inside. “He smoked three packets of cigarettes a day, for he was a sad man, empty and without any prospect of life,” he says.
Thinking that he would be helping other people, Manuel eventually embarked in the shady world of the occult. “For many years, I was involved in spiritism and even went to do witchcraft, always with the intention of being able to help others, but the reality was quite different because I could not even help myself! I suffered from problems in my marriage, such as disagreements and quarrels,” he reports.
I tried several times to stop smoking, but all my attempts were futile, this was until I discovered the work of Universal Church. I decided to attend meetings and, after just one week, I was able to quit smoking altogether. Today, I no longer have any dependency on cigarettes and if I happen to be anywhere where someone is smoking, it makes me feel sick.
I have also been able to solve my family problems and I am fulfilled and I have peace.
– Manuel
