Dear SAICO and CFC members, Thank you for Essay and your contributions to a Fellowship that is getting me from day to day. Your publications make “meetings” possible for me [in prison]. I hope one day to share the joy I have with others who need it, but until then know that you and your work are a blessing.
Dear Essay readers: This issue of Essay includes many stories on SA and Technology. As of late November there were about 9,000 downloads and over 1130 views of the newly free electronic June Essay. The September Essay has 2600 downloads and 840 views to date. Our desire to be a global Meeting in Print is well underway.
Are you on a telephone call that’s starting to go on too long or veer into unwanted subjects? The endgame strategy of choice is to begin talking about a Step — any Step, 1 through 12, will do. The conversation will usually end within a minute.
Can sex be an addiction? In fact, it is. To protect people who are hooked to this in Murcia, an association was born with purpose to help and which has set up a phone line, where one can call if they think they need help.
One of the most important gifts I’ve received as the result of working Step Four has been the ability to get free from resentments more quickly and easily than ever before in my life. And along with freedom from resentment, I experience a level of peace, calm, and improved relationships which I never would have dreamed possible.
Once every week an SA member calls to read to me the First, Second and Third Steps as a kind of surrender prayer. When I listen to him it brings me back to the basics of the program in these Steps. It could be changed depending on the person giving these Steps. Here is what he reads to me when he calls:
On July 3rd, 2004, I left a family holiday party early to go to my first meeting. I even changed from shorts to long pants as I knew shorts were not supposed to be worn at meetings. My family assumed I was going to a church meeting, and I did nothing to correct them.
These are little gems of wisdom I have jotted down through the years. I keep them in my “Meeting In A Pocket” booklet from SAICO.
At the Jersey Strong conference in Newark in July 2017 there was an Old-Timers panel meeting. The speakers with 30-plus years sobriety included Dianne (1987), Margot (1986), Harvey (1984), Mitch (1985), and Tom (1987).
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.
