Note from the Delegate Chair

Dear Fellow SA Members:

Gratitude is more than a word. It is an action. Gratitude is the heart’s memory. May we find thankfulness in our hearts that we have found SA. Thankfulness not only for the fellowship, the Steps, the Traditions, and a personal relationship with God—but also for the friends we’ve found, who we cherish as brothers and sisters.

The General Delegate Assembly is grateful for the service you render throughout the fellowship. Your constant willingness to look inside yourself, do service work, and carry the message of SA is noticed and appreciated by the GDA. We love to hear from you.

May you continue to find peace within as you move forward in doing the next right thing. Sexual sobriety opens the door to recovery, where the healing begins. “We feel better physically, emotionally, and spiritually when we are sober and when the principles of the Steps are effective in our everyday lives” (SA 33).

“The joy of living is the theme of SA’s Twelfth Step, and action is its key word” (12&12 106). Joy is a spiritual awakening, where we become able to do, feel, and believe that which we could not do, feel, or believe before. By taking the actions of love, we begin to feel alive and free of the obsession to lust. The actions we take working the Steps are a daily occurrence. We need to just do it. Surrender and obey.

We all need to accept where we are today and move forward in the solution of the Steps, surrender, and accountability to ourselves and to God. The past is called the past because it is in the past. We need to let go of the pain, shame, and negative attitudes we have toward ourselves and others.

Today, “we enjoy moments in which there is something like real peace of mind. To those of us who have hitherto known only excitement, depression, or anxiety—in other words, to all of us—this newfound peace is a priceless gift. Where humility had formerly stood for forced feeding on humble pie, it now begins to mean the nourishing ingredient that can give us serenity” (12&12 74).

I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at our International Convention in Irvine, CA on January 14-16 . . . where you will find Sunshine and Serenity.