It’s 4:23 a.m. as I write this. Before getting up to write, I had lain in bed for half an hour processing a close call. The close call was not the trip to the emergency room we made the night before, when my daughter needed medical attention.
I came into SA in 1993 with a desire to fix my marriage. I had heard other newcomers share this goal, and it seemed reasonable to me. But placing my marriage relationship before my personal recovery led me to significant danger.
Dear SA Fellowship: I am grateful to the fellowship for stepping forward in your contributions to SAICO this past year. Our net revenues have increased by $29,600 over budget so far this year.
Dear Fellow SA Members: The General Delegate Assembly (GDA), which meets quarterly, held its annual face-to-face meeting July 10-11, prior to the July convention. All regions were represented except the Persian-Speaking, Russian-speaking, and Australia/Asia regions. Also present were the Trustees, Trustee candidates, representatives from SAICO, and observers.
I’m George, a sexaholic. I’ve been sexually sober since June 12, 2001. Before I found SA, I spent all of my working hours acting out with my cyber girlfriends in chat rooms across several time zones. I was totally consumed by lust. I had a short affair with one of my customers, and I only wanted more.
Recently, I was driving to a neighboring town to meet my mother and sisters for dinner. I was on a recovery call when my cell phone battery died, and I had lost my car charger. I felt isolated. I like the security and support of having a working cell phone and I thought about stopping to buy a new car charger.
When I arrived at my regular SA Monday night dinner meeting this week, I found that the restaurant where we usually hold the meeting was closed due to a neighborhood electrical outage. One member drove off, while three of us walked next door to a fast-food place to eat. I was feeling a bit distraught over losing my meeting, but as I walked back to my car around 7 p.m., I saw the meeting!
Some years ago, while sitting on a park bench in a university town and reading a book, I saw an old monk walking toward me. He was wearing a medieval-looking dark brown habit, and as he approached me he asked if he could sit beside me and talk.
Mine was the first name to be called. As I walked onto the floor of the sports pavilion at our local university and stood before 3,000 spectators, I thought, “I can’t believe I’m doing this!” Then I bowed to the judges and began the first move of the 24-Step Form of Tai Chi. This was a miracle of my SA recovery.
A detailed donations report is enclosed with mailed issues of Essay. The report is also available from SAICO. To request your copy, please call SAICO at 866-424-8777 or write to saico@sa.org. In 2008, an appeal was sent out to the fellowship to help offset a shortfall in contributions to SAICO. Called the “Quarterly Appeal,” this was a request for contributions from members, meetings, Intergroups, and regions.
