Working the First Three Steps
The Third Step has been the hardest and most confusing for me. It would have been much easier had I better understood and practiced the first two Steps from the start.
A Reflection on the Freedom We Have
At a recent meeting several people bemoaned the fact that they acted out against their own self-interest. They did not want to act out but felt compelled to do so.
Group News
The Millvale Group in Summerside is one of two groups on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We have approximately 15 members who attend regularly.
Group News
It feels so wonderful to have at last an SA meeting here in Greensboro, NC. This meeting came about as a result of our Higher Power expressing himself through the group conscience process. Four weeks ago, after much prayer, discussion and deliberation, our Wednesday night SAA group held a group conscience and voted unanimously to become an SA meeting.
SA Beginnings in Ireland
The Belfast SA group began after Chris B. went to the Waterford Conference in October 1996 on the advice of an American clergyman. Since then, SA meetings have been held every two weeks in a local parish center. For the most part there were only two people in attendance. Recently, however, two others heard about SA through other 12-Step fellowships and have been introduced to SA literature and meetings.
What’s Going On in SA
The new Interfellowship Committee will communicate with other “S”-fellowships. A member of each of the other “S”-fellowships will be invited to attend the SA Today meeting at the next International Conference.
Feedback Corner
An article in the December 1996 issue of the Essay mentioned that while it only costs three dollars to publish a copy of the SA White Book, we charge ten dollars in order to raise enough funds to keep SA operating.
Serving on Intergroup
It’s 11:15 a.m. on the second Saturday morning of the month in Silver Spring, MD, a suburb of Washington, DC. The regular Saturday morning SA meeting has let out and the Maryland/Washington DC/Virginia Intergroup meeting is about to begin. I drove 35 minutes to be here; others came from as far away as the Maryland-Pennsylvania border or Fredericksburg, VA, both well over an hour’s drive away.
Before Making Amends, Listen to your Sponsor
I have been coming to SA for over two years. I am now 150 days sober. I believe that my history of achieving a few months’ sobriety and then slipping lies with my ego. I seem to lack humility, which causes me to believe too much in my own way of seeing the world, no matter how painful that is, rather than accepting other people’s guidance and support.
Pray for the One You Resent
That’s what the man on the SA tape told me to do for my boss. My boss told me I was a “permanent temporary” and that I wouldn’t be hired as a permanent employee. When he told me that, I had been on the job about a year and a half. As I went through the Steps again, I prayed for the people on my resentment list. The man on the tape told me to pray for them until I meant it, and I did.
