What does it mean to be free of lust?
Marie: Being free from lust means I can give instead of take. When I see a woman who looks tired or unhappy I acknowledge her by saying ‘Hello’ or giving her a true compliment. Seeing the change in her is a joy and I never have to lie again!

When did you realize that you were powerless over lust and that your life had become unmanageable? Was it a sudden realization or something that you arrived at over the span of months or years? For me, it was an epiphany brought about from the threat of a second divorce. It was a sudden realization of the kind of person that I had been over the past 30 years.

Twice a month SA members in the Sacramento area gather for a meditation meeting. The Eleventh Step in the 12&12 describes the direct linkage among self-examination, prayer and meditation. Our practice is simple: we read SA or AA literature and then spend about 20 minutes together in silence using our breath as a focal point.

Hello, my name is Claire, I was created in the image of God, and I’m a recovering sexaholic. By the grace of God, my sobriety date is Wednesday, July 3rd, 2002. I have a sponsor and my sponsor has a sponsor.

Hello everyone! My friends in recovery! Thank God we still have emails… After I use WhatsApp so much, it’s as if one who doesn’t have it – isn’t around at all. Thank God it’s only my sick head ;-)

I attended my first SA meeting in June 2010. I was broken mentally. I had nowhere else to go. I had failed. I agreed with my counselor that I couldn’t stop using porn. When I attended my first meeting I did not feel judged or pressured by the members. There was no dogma, no form to sign.

The secret is out! There are already a number of flourishing online SA Groups where members share experience, strength and hope via text message and make and receive calls, find sharing partners, etc.

SA members in Washington, D.C., are celebrating the 25th anniversary of an SA meeting that opened its doors in November, 1991, and has met weekly at the same location ever since, Capitol Hill United Methodist (CHUM). Members are grateful for the Friday evening meeting that sets a spiritual tone at the end of the work week with the SA program and Steps.

Recently we had 80 people attending our Saturday morning meeting. Tears of joy welled in my eyes recalling the first meeting I attended over 32 years ago. There were only two of us. After the meeting my mind reviewed the activities we used that led us today to having at least 49 meetings a week in our area.

At the Jerusalem European Region meeting reports were received from: Finland; Flanders; Francophone IG; Ireland; Israel; Netherlands; Poland; Spain; Russian-speaking IG; United Kingdom.

In 1988 there were SA meetings in Germany, Washington D.C., Simi Valley and the LA area, San Diego, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Portland (Oregon), Seattle, Chicago, New York City, Boston, St. Louis, Rochester, and a few other cities. At that time Nashville had six meetings per week, which we believe was the most per capita in the world! Today SA has meetings around the world, on all continents except Antarctica.

What if today’s the day I meet several life long friends? What if the community I am joining at my school is beyond my wildest imagination? What if today is the first day I get to act on a life long dream? What if today starts something that cannot be stopped and has already been finished? Something transcendent, holy, and exquisite?

I’m a sexaholic which means I’m powerless over lust and lust will always win the battle if I try to stop my diseased mind from lusting. Powerlessness means the battle is already lost. There is no point in trying to struggle any longer. I have nothing left to do but unconditional surrender.

When I went through my first 90-day abstinence period, my sponsor suggested that one purpose for this abstinence was to discover that sex was totally optional. My wife and I have done several abstinence periods, from 45 to 90 days. Each experience brought a deeper understanding about ourselves and this disease.

My name is Tom and I am a recovering sex addict, gratefully sober for eight years. I am constantly reminded that I still need the program, including the Steps, my sponsor and the Fellowship. Recently in a local SA meeting I reflected on an Essay article about masturbation that we read and shared.

My dysfunctional family and religious tradition taught me to feel fear and shame, particularly surrounding “impure thoughts” and “touching yourself.” These feelings were very intense and too painful to bear, and I escaped them in a way that became a very deeply-ingrained pattern of thought and behavior.

Всем привет, я сексоголик Галина из Украины!
Когда прислали письмо с предложением поделиться о конвенте, я с радостью загорелась этой идеей, но спустя время начала сомневаться, есть ли мне чем поделиться, есть у меня вообще способность излагать свои мысли? Страшно, но все же пробую сделать действия и пойти навстречу страху.

Dear Essay,
The theme for this issue is Sobriety in the Holidays. I’d like to share a holiday memory.

Dear Essay readers:
Welcome back to Essay — or, if this is your first time to read the Essay, welcome to your SA meeting in print online. We hope you will subscribe to Essay to benefit from our meeting in print every quarter.

These are the top ten things NOT to say to one’s Sexaholics Anonymous sponsor: