We hear a great deal about change in the fellowship. Our Serenity Prayer talks of having the “courage to change.” In our early days, sober members talk to us about having the “willingness” to change. But what exactly is change, as it relates to the fellowship and sobriety?
I arrived in SA in 1999 under dire circumstances following a long period of compulsive poor behavior involving few other people but leaving devastation within my own family. I did not discover the extent of the devastation until many years later after engaging in the SA program wholeheartedly.
I came to Sexaholics Anonymous 4 years ago. Before that I had no idea I was an addict. Daily suicidal thoughts were the last straw. After acting out I didn’t feel good; I just felt strong pain and had no idea what to do or how I could help myself. I was praying that God would give me the way out from my obsession.
When I was new to the Fellowship, I heard something that made me laugh: “I’m a self-loathing narcissist.” I thought it was funny, but I also wanted to cry at how true this statement was for me. I’m a sexaholic and have truly earned my seat in these SA rooms. I have a fatal, incurable, progressive disease—a real soul sickness. By an incomprehensible miracle, the Program helped me find my way to a Higher Power who restored me to sanity. Granted, all I have is a daily reprieve contingent on my spiritual condition, but that much is an absolute miracle to me.
I am Lina, SA, sober since 2010, Mexico City. I was born in 1968. I only stopped taking a bottle when I was 6 years old. As a result, I was the subject of mockery at home. I remember my house made of tin, and a dirt floor; we had scarce resources and many financial needs. I was the last of 8 siblings in addition to being a girl with a stomach disease.
Some months ago, our Bonn group hosted a 12-Step workshop with 31 participants. It was a creative combination of Dave T.’s awesome string exercises., Nicholas S.’s brilliant 12-Step workshop, and the workshop leader’s live drawings on a flipchart.
Have you ever wanted to be part of something transformative? Here’s your chance to uplift fellow sexaholics still struggling in our meeting rooms. We’re excited to announce the initial planning stages of an entirely new video series.
The program teaches us that we cannot keep what we do not give away. Step Twelve tells us that service is an integral part of recovery. There are many opportunities for service within the SA Service Structure. These opportunities are all described in the SA Service Manual, available for free download off our website sa.org. There are opportunities within your local home group, the intergroup that services your home group, the regional assembly that serves your intergroup. Lastly, at the international fellowship-wide level, there are opportunities at the General Delegate Assembly, the Board of Trustees, and their committees. As current chair of the Board of Trustees, I’d like to focus on the Board of Trustees and our Committees and the opportunities for you, the SA Member, to serve.
I want to share six affirmations I created on an app called “I AM,” that show on my phone screen throughout the day to a background of a setting sun at a beach. They help me to stay sober.
I entered SA in August 2017, having heard of it a year earlier. My first meeting was on a Saturday morning in the city of Ghent, Belgium, where I live. It was in a messy but cozy living room of a presbytery. SA had been very warmly welcomed there by the old local parish priest who gave us the room when approached by a fellow in 2014. This Saturday meeting has been my home meeting for the last 6 years.
