I attended my first SA meeting in 1988 in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, Roy had nine years of sexual sobriety. Back then, the definition of “old-timer” was three years of sobriety. Roy was years ahead of the “new” old-timers. When Roy died September, 2009 at the age of 82, he had more than 25 years of sexual sobriety. His life and his sobriety were a gift to us all.
Several years ago at work, a new employee was hired into our section. “Shirley” was a drop-dead gorgeous woman. Besides being beautiful, she was intelligent, witty, and friendly. Quickly, I realized that I was getting a crush on her.
I had always thought my Step 9 would be pretty tame. However, there were three or four moments that struck me with the urge to run away from life as I knew it and never look back. One of these was the day I made amends to my mother. My wife was out of town, and mom invited me to do a BBQ with her at a local park. I had been waiting for a few weeks for the opportunity to present itself, and there it was. I agreed.
So, here I am in anticipation after my long journey Waiting on the hanging canopy swing in the shade of two giant elder pine trees With my son on the side of my sister’s house in Northern Idaho It’s a peaceful summer mid-afternoon with a few fluffy clouds in a high blue sky As my son and I take turns napping on the swing waiting for someone to arrive home
You want 12 Steps, man, now and with no rent just say I can’t [YEAH] and give up your old tent!
As water quenches, Lungs breathe, Mothers nurture, Music soothes.
Over three sober decades in SA there have been quite a few pieces of “bad news” for us sexaholics. They all arise, like our entire program, from our experience, strength and hope. Each issue of Essay under Practical Tools we’ll share some pieces of “bad news”: • We make a decision to get angry. Then we find something to get angry about. Same with resentment!
Service is a critical part of recovery, but it is one of the most poorly understood Program concepts, in my opinion. I’ve been in the Program for 19 years, and for 17 of those years, my idea of service was flawed. I believed service was about helping addicts only. I did not see it extend outside of these boundaries.
An issue that was nagging at me for the past few years was the state of my White Book. Pages were falling out and it was frayed in places. This was due mostly because it comes with me everywhere. Even though I have another White Book, my frayed copy has been with me to meetings in eight different countries on three continents, and to many countries without SA meetings. It is always in my backpack.
Literature sales: As anticipated, the Fellowship is showing signs of filling its Step into Action and Real Connection book inventory. The strong initial sales could boost 2019 Net Literature sales to $75,000 compared to the $60,000 budget.
