Hace 27 años entré en una sala llena de hombres: ¿Qué esperaba? Pensé que encontraría gente sucia y callada. Afortunadamente me equivoqué completamente con mis expectativas. Vi una sala llena de hombres normales y corrientes como los que podía ver en mi trabajo o en un grupo de amigos.
۲۷ سال پیش وارد اتاقی پر از مرد شدم... چه انتظاری داشتم؟ پیش خودم فکر می کردم افرادی را ببینم که کثیف و مرموز به نظر می رسند. اما خوشبختانه انتظارات من کاملاً اشتباه بود. من اتاقی را دیدم که پر از مردان معمولی بود، درست مانند آنچه که ممکن است در محل کار یا بیرون، زمانی که با دوستانم هستم، ببینم.
I practice no organized religion, but I may refer to specific religious traditions here because of their being examples related to my journey. In November 1985 I stopped acting out by means of chemical castration. This was because of life-threatening behaviors that were occurring as a part of my acting out. There was no emotional or spiritual treatment combined with it.
I’m Nicholas and I’m a sexaholic. I acted out with pornography, masturbation, prostitution, adultery, promiscuity, sexualizing men, women, children, animals and objects, voyeurism and exhibitionism, romantic fantasy, sexual intrigue, and emotional affairs. And by the grace of God and the program of Sexaholics Anonymous, I haven’t had to do any of that stuff for over 27 years and for that I am incredibly grateful.
I was recently asked to write an article for the Essay on Emotional Sobriety. At first my reaction was to say “No.” I wanted to say No because I felt, deep down, that most people in SA have difficulty reaching Emotional Sobriety since they can barely reach “lust sobriety.”
27 years ago I walked into a room full of men … what did I expect? I thought I would see people that looked dirty and secretive. Thankfully my expectations were completely wrong. I saw a room full of ordinary men just like I might see at work or out with friends.
Lorsque je suis arrivé aux SA, j'ai demandé à un homme qui avait plusieurs années de sobriété d'être mon parrain. Quelques mois plus tard, alors que j'étais prêt à commencer l'étape 4, j'ai découvert qu'il n'avait jamais travaillé les Étapes.
When I first arrived in SA, I asked a man who had several years of sobriety to be my sponsor. A few months later, when I was ready to start Step 4, I discovered that he had never worked the Steps.
It was my privilege to serve as Essay editor during the years 1999-2000. My service term was short, but memorable. I could not always keep pace with the Essay production schedule. I will always admire those before and after me who have produced regular Essay issues full of inspiring material. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Theirs is not an easy task.
Lust addiction and sexual acting-out brought me into SA, but it was the spirituality of the SA literature and deeper spiritual fellowship I found in SA meetings that kept me coming back and called me to perform service in SA. With a background in writing and editing, I served on the SA Literature Committee that edited the White Book and Recovery Continues as well as other SA literature.
