Participating in the Fellowship helped him to accept his disease and to laugh with those carrying the message to him.

Ontario’s SA Spring Retreat 2025, themed “Acceptance is the Answer”, took place from Friday, May 23rd–Sunday, May 25th, coordinated by the Peterborough SA group.

An SA retreat was not where I was expecting to be or even really wanted to be after my 2nd year of university. I thought it was being quarantined with a bunch of mentally sick people! However, I do have a persuasive sponsor who encouraged me to go.

During the retreat, aligned with the theme, I accepted two things I was still struggling with, which meant I wasn’t surrendering to God.

Firstly, I accepted that I am a sexaholic and I want to be a part of SA. I found out during the retreat that sexaholics with good recovery are the funniest people I know. For many of these people, having been faced with death through their sexaholism and having progressively recovered from such a state, they are immensely grateful and also don’t take themselves too seriously—hence the unbeatable humour. Working the steps by myself kept me afloat for a time, but working the steps while connecting with others puts me in the lifeboat of the fellowship. I wanted to be a part of this fellowship, which meant accepting that I am a sexaholic.

The other point of acceptance was that working the 12 steps is difficult. The actions of lust are easier, but the results produce death in me. The actions of recovery are harder, but the results produce life—the real connection. When my sponsor said the grand-sponsor would be there, I thought that it was some SA title granted upon a certain level of sobriety, like a rank level in a video game. Apparently, he was just my sponsor’s sponsor. AND my great-grand-sponsor too! Seeing where they were in their recovery and how they continued to carry the message all the way to me helped me accept that working the program is worth it. I am charged with carrying the message forward. As I continue working the steps, I come to experience more fully that accepting hardships is the pathway to peace.