When I admitted powerlessness and unmanageability (Step One), I began Twelve-Step recovery. Within one week my spiritual awakening began as I could believe in the experience of others and feel hope. For me this was Step Two. Beginning to learn and live the Steps in my life (with some assistance from professionals) enlarged and deepened my spiritual awakening.
Every morning my alarm goes off at 5:30 am. I get up, put on clothes over my pajamas and go outside for a 30-min walk. This is where my morning ritual begins, supporting the SA program with another method. This method is about mindset (attention, dedication, focus and meditation), about breathing and cold therapy.
You are the mother I have always longed for Showering me with affection and overwhelming me with love You are the father I never thought I had Raising me into a man and leading me from above
In the April issue, read about the miracles that have happened in members’ lives since they started living according to our common sobriety definition.
Starting an SA meeting in prison is not an easy job, despite lust being a widespread problem. Although I had no experience with prison meetings to speak of, I did not let that get in the way. My own lusting experience and service had shown me how we can be uniquely useful to others.
The author of “Giving Time to My Family Is Service Too” describes how he had plenty of time to do SA service when he got sober in 2009 and was no longer filling up every spare minute with lust. He lists all the services he did in the first years of his recovery, services that are available for us to do too.
During my first month in our fellowship, someone tipped me off to attend the Sunday Easy Does It But Do It meeting— a literature study meeting with a very nice family atmosphere. That really turned out to be true. The group quickly felt like family.
Many of us first experienced the joy of service in early recovery when we started giving back to our home group—turning up on time, sharing respectfully and honestly, helping set up the room and welcoming newcomers.
Why am I still in SA? A simple answer to this question could be, “I am here because I have to be,” but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The pain of repeatedly hitting bottom lines was enough to get me in the door, but never enough to keep me inside.
If I had to choose one word to describe how I felt for most of my life, I would choose "disconnected." I had a hard time making friends in both kindergarten and school. There were many engaging ways to escape reality—creating stories in my head, adventure books, and video games.
