Dear Fellow SA Members: I would like to explain the process of selecting SA Delegates and Trustees. Selection of Delegates begins at the group level. Individual SA groups elect representatives to serve them at their Intergroup, Intergroups elect Representatives to represent them at the Regional Level, and Regions elect Delegates to the General Assembly.
Akron, Ohio—the birthplace of Twelve Step recovery—will host the July 2008 SA/S-Anon International Convention, entitled “Welcome Home.” We who live in Akron are reminded of our rich recovery history simply by driving down a neighborhood street and seeing one of many Twelve Step landmarks.
I’ve been hit hard by lust this last week. When that happens, my only choice is to surrender and turn to my Higher Power. The program becomes really simple after that.
Recently, I have begun to recognize a change over time in the nature and quality of my own desire for sexual sobriety and recovery.
I’ve always had a large ego, which never allowed me to acknowledge that I needed God. I looked down on people of faith, thinking they were foolish or weak, and that they used the notion of God as a crutch.
When I first got into SA recovery, I had been attempting for a month to recover—on my own—using a popular Twelve Step study guide, but I was slipping constantly. I happened upon an online SA meeting and posted my complaints about the triggers that were overwhelming me.
For me, honesty is the basis of a sponsorship relationship. I’m honest with my sponsor right away if a behavior is becoming a problem. I’m honest with her about what situations I must avoid. I also know what I am able to handle without problems.
I’m battling a disease that is much greater than I am, and which needs no rest. My disease is focused on driving a wedge between me and everything I hold dear. It is intent on killing me. It knows that by isolating me it can make me believe its lies—but as long as I have others to talk with, I can keep my addiction at bay.
My initials are L. A. I’m powerless over lust without God’s help.
I experienced something new at the International SA/S-Anon Convention in Newark, NJ, this past January. One of the morning sessions had to do with fetishes and obsessions. There had been some contention as to whether to include such a topic at an SA convention but the room was packed.
