As a sexaholic, I have been blessed with five and a half years of continuous sobriety and recovery from lust. Much of my recovery is due to a high amount of service work in order to give back what has been so freely given to me. This includes attending International conventions when I can. I recently returned from the Jersey Strong SA/S-Anon/S-Ateen convention. The Saturday lunch S-Anon speaker was an S-Ateen instead.

For the past several years the International Conferences have had portions of the event streamed on the internet. Recently this has been done at the conferences in Denver, Jerusalem and Newark. Five sessions were streamed in Denver, three in Jerusalem, and eight in Newark last July.

My name is Peter and I am a sexaholic, addicted to lust. I am so grateful for technology, I thank God regularly for allowing me to be lust free when using it. In my disease I used the computer and telephone to enhance my acting out. It allowed me to live in a fantasy world.

In the wake of a full solar eclipse, that fascinated many people across the continental United States on August 21, 2017, another phenomenon occurred which eclipsed all else. It began at 09:00 UTC on August 23, 2017, and continued for 24 hours. It was the first SA Geek Camp, during which SA members from all over the world connected together via the Internet to carry the SA message.

Can’t attend the San Antonio International SA Convention in person? Now available—registration for live streaming of Saturday sessions 13 January 2018 from 12 Steppin’ Deep in the Heart of Texas. More information will come soon about start time, topics, and titles.

As a member of the Public Information (PI) Committee I have been asked to inform you of the two videos that are imbedded in the www.SA.org website. One is a 30-second public service spot and the other is a 3-minute introduction to SA and could be used in introducing SA to the helping community.

Geek Camp’s Purpose
“To carry the message to the still suffering lust addict by the appropriate use of information technology.”

Does SA really work? The clear answer from my own life is yes. I know it works, because it has worked for me.

What if, when I feel tired and weak, depleted and nervous, God is gently reminding me to rely on Him? What if I see the end of me as the start of God’s grace and power? What if His strength is all I need? What if my anxiety is a gift, because it reminds me that this life comes in moments, not days or years.

At times I fail to recall the effort it takes for me to surrender my sexual lust on a daily basis. I pretend to think that because I have such a wonderful spiritual condition—attending Sexaholics Anonymous meetings, meeting with other SA members, etc.—that I don’t need other practical solutions. But that whole line of thinking originates in my ego.

When I first came to SA I was three years divorced from a twelve-year marriage and had two kids. I always say that I was a sexaholic before I married my ex-wife, a sexaholic while married, and still a sexaholic after divorce. I knew that something was wrong with my behavior—I just couldn’t stop, even though I did not want to continue.

Recently I received new lenses for my glasses. The current ones were scratched and insurance would replace them. After the optometrist installed the lenses, I walked back to my car in the parking garage. I found myself astounded by the new clarity of my vision! I thought I should give a quick call back to the optometrist to learn what had changed my eyesight so dramatically?

Chapter 5 of the Big Book tells us that honesty is a prerequisite of recovery. What does honesty mean for me? If I lie to you, even if I know the truth inside, I’m not being honest. Why? Because my outside doesn’t match my inside truth.

A daily renewal is one of the best practices in my recovery from sexaholism. One morning my renewal partner said, “Matthew, you have UNICORN SYNDROME. You don’t realize how unique you are, how rare it is to have done the work you’ve done at your age and to have found recovery, or how unrealistic it is to expect your wife to be in the same place as you are.”

What stories have meant the most to you in this Essay?

Dear Essay,
If there is nothing on our homepage (or easily accessible with one click) that displays the fruit of recovery that an inquirer is looking for, we are doing them a disservice. Now that a sample article from Essay is a click-able link on www.SA.org, we are well on the way to providing that “instant info” an inquirer might be looking for.

Dear Essay readers:
This issue of Essay includes many stories on Willing to Go to Any Length. You may have heard the expression “Sexaholics Anonymous is for those who want it — not for those who need it.” Your Editors hope these stories can be helpful for those who want it anywhere in the world. As of early August there were about 5,000 downloads of the newly free electronic Essay. Our desire to be a global Meeting in Print is well underway.

Dear Essay:
The SA Literature Committee has been asked to assemble an Old-Timers compilation of articles and speeches. Please contribute your favorite text, either print or on a tape or CD, and send it to SAICO by postal mail or internet at saico@sa.org.

While in Egypt in January for an SA workshop, the members took me to see some special sights. One day, three young men wanted me to see a couple of special mosques.

SA has terrific new videos to use to help spread the word about our program of recovery. One video is a 30-second public service announcement. The second is a 3-minute introduction to SA that gives an overview of our fellowship and the Steps. This could be played in front of a public audience such as a Rotary club, church/synagogue/mosque, prison, hospital, institution, college psychology class, etc.