Smoking is BAD for you!!!!!!!!!!!!
In Fact, smoking is the leading cause of preventable death,
resulting in more deaths than the combined toll from Aid's,
cocaine, heroin, alcohol, fire, automobile accidents, homicides,
and suicides.
ALCOHOL IS A DRUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do not drink alcohol, when you do, you give up control, you lose the clear edge between right and wrong. It is one of the worst decisions you can make in your life to drink alcohol, even in moderation. Because that is where Satan gets his foot in the door and uses it from there to hurt yourself and others around you.
Don't end up dying like Joe Camel did.
THE SERENITY PRAYER FOR SMOKERS
GOD GRANT ME SERENITY,
TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE,
COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN
AND
THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...
As smokers trying to stop smoking, we cannot change the craving for cigarettes, but even if we can't change the craving, we can accept it. The truth is that until we can accept our craving for cigarettes, we will not stop smoking. Lighting another cigarette is what we do if we decide we cannot accept the craving!
It's that simple: If you want a cigarette and you will not accept the craving, then you will surely light a cigarette. Or maybe you will have "one puff" to get you through, but even one puff is "not accepting" the things that you cannot change.
Accepting the craving does not mean we want the craving or like it. Accepting it means, first, recognizing the craving for what it is: a strong desire, physical or psychological, not a need, for a cigarette. That's all. We do not fight this craving; rather we look at it, letting it be, not getting panic stricken or feeling sorry for ourselves, but saying, "Yes, I really am craving a cigarette right now."
We do not practice self-deception and try to trick ourselves into thinking we don't want to smoke. This is an honest program. Nor do we try to hate the habit (or ourselves) so much that we quit. No, we cannot make ourselves stop smoking, but we can live with the craving, and so we pray for...
The courage to change the things I can...
The thing that we can change is our unwillingness to live, even for a short time, with the craving for the next cigarette. We can, with God's help and the support of the group, change our old way of dealing with craving, and we deal with it in a new way: We become willing to live with the craving; we no longer light a cigarette to get rid of the pain of craving. Our lighting up shows that we have not accepted what we cannot change and have not acted with the courage to change the things we can. Of course, living with a craving is hard, sometimes very hard, but you are not alone-with God's help you can do it. That is what this Serenity Prayer is all about.
So we ask God to help us accept the craving, and then we ask God to give us the courage not to take care of this craving--as we have always done--by smoking one more cigarette. Thus, we need the strength to accept the craving, and the courage not to light up...
And the wisdom to know the difference...
The wisdom we ask for here is to become aware of the difference between our old way of handling the discomfort of craving in the past (by compulsively lighting up) and the new way of dealing with cravings: accepting the craving until it passes, uncomfortable though we may be for a few moments.
The strength and courage to live as ex-smokers with this discomfort does come if we ask for it, even though it may take time. What we receive is not raw will power, but Power that comes from God, from the group, and from our inner-most self The power that we want is actually love! It is only with this kind of power that we can become ex-smokers and receive a new life free from nicotine addiction.
The reason we did not become ex-smokers years ago is that we chose not to live with the craving. Every time we craved a cigarette, we gave in and smoked it. And kept on hoping that in some magic way a day would arrive when the craving would disappear or we would find an absolutely painless way to stop smoking. That day never came. Each of us kept using our favorite rationalizations or excuses for lighting up, our own justification for not living with the craving. And we kept on craving and smoking, craving and smoking, year after year. But now we can change all that: The moment we can accept what is -- "I want to smoke" -- and face it with the courage God gives us, we can say, "I choose not to handle this craving by smoking a cigarette" then we become ex-smokers!
If you continue to smoke even though you say this prayer, then say it again, and again, and keep on saying it while you reflect what it means to you, a smoker. Eventually it will work. It will not work if you are not sincere, but if all you can do at first is to say the prayer without believing it, then at least do that! Some time may be needed for you to receive the power to live with the discomfort that comes from craving without lighting up, but eventually it will come. In time, the craving will diminish greatly, and someday, we trust. it will disappear altogether. If you have a slip, however, and you light one up, accept yourself reverently and say the prayer again the next time!
Remember, it really is not the stress, frustration or even the craving that causes us to have another cigarette, but rather our lack of strength to deal with the craving. That strength comes from God, from the group, and from your own healthy inner self! May God be with you now! - J.S.
Copyright © 1999
Nicotine Anonymous World Services
PO Box 126338, Harrisburg, PA 17112-6338
http://www.nicotine-anonymous.org/pamphlet/english/serenity.html
Alcohol is the most widely used and abused drug in America. According to the
1993 National Household Survey, 103 million people in the United States are
current drinkers and 11 million are heavy drinkers. Alcohol-related crimes in
the United States account for 54 percent of murders and attempted murders, 68
percent of manslaughters, 52 percent of rape/sexual assaults, and 48 percent of
robberies. Because their mothers drink during pregnancy, 40,000 babies are born
each year with birth defects from alcohol abuse. In families with one alcoholic
parent, the child is 34 percent more likely to be alcoholic than children of
non-alcoholics. Social costs of alcohol addiction amount to $100 billion per
year in lost productivity and related health costs. Alcoholism is one of the
most preventable illnesses; yet 7 out of 10 adults drink alcohol. Of these, one
out of seven is an alcoholic.
What is Alcohol?
The active ingredient in all alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol (ethanol),
which is produced by yeast cells acting on carbohydrates in fruits and grains.
Ethyl alcohol works much like ether, acting as an anesthetic to put the brain to
sleep. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that slows down body
functions such as heart rate and respiration. Small quantities of alcohol may
induce feelings of well-being and relaxation; but in larger amounts, alcohol can
cause intoxication, sedation, unconsciousness and even death. There are three
types of alcoholic beverages:
* Beer is fermented from grains and contains three to six percent alcohol.
* Wine is fermented from fruit and normally contains 12 to 14 percent alcohol.
Fortified wines have additional alcohol added and contain 18 to 20 percent
alcohol. Wine coolers are a mixture of fruit juice, sugar, and red or white
wine, and contain four to seven percent alcohol (approximately the same
alcoholic content as beer)
* Liquor is made from distilled (boiled off) alcohol and contains 40 to 50
percent alcohol. This is expressed as degrees of proof (two proof equals one
percent alcohol). For example, 80 proof liquor is 40 percent alcohol.
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