When I first came to SA I did not know how fast to leave after the meeting. I did not want to be there. I did not believe it to be fun at all! That was more than 4 years ago. Since then a lot has changed. I frequently crack up before, after or even during a meeting. There are some real jokesters here in SA Amsterdam. Especially jokes about recovery or the struggles we are going through make me laugh. But it doesn’t stop there.
We go out to dinner every Monday with a bunch of fellows before the meeting. They know us at the restaurant by now and look less bewildered if we all—sometimes 6 or 7 of us—go Dutch, i.e. pay our own way. We are regulars. We also go out for coffee, visits to museums and just a few weeks ago we went to see an action movie. Great fun! There are the occasional walks in nature, architecture walks with a group of us or a canoeing or sailing trip.
Two of my favorites: (1). A concert in a very old and prominent synagogue in Amsterdam I would otherwise probably never have seen from the inside. (2). Renting a bike with a fellow in New York prior to the 2019 Nashville convention and feeling on top of the world cruising down New York City in traffic. SA is great fun.
I heard someone say at a convention: “SA is where the party is”. That is true. I need SA. I am a sexaholic. I will be a sexaholic all my life. I might as well have some fun. I can choose to be happy. The alternative is that I am sad and don’t want to be in SA. In Dutch we have a saying: “Life is a party, you just have to hang the garlands yourself”. Or I can ask my Higher Power to help me with that.
Safe in the harbour of Marken (near Amsterdam) after an adventurous day of sailing
Rikkert V., The Netherlands