Lessons Learned
Dear ESSAY Reader, We keep working on improving our “meeting in print” with your help. Subscriptions to the ESSAY are now available through the SAICO website store, Publications page, at (www.sa.org) Our intention is to make copies of the ESSAY available on-line soon for reproduction in other formats such as the international A4 paper size. Check the SAICO on-line store for availability.
Currently there are a number of prisons across the country that have SA meetings. However, we do not have information on all of them.
This I need to learn.
As so often happens, some of my most profound revelations originate in the most insignificant things—that is, if I listen to that gentle voice of intuition and wisdom.
Have you been in recovery for a while and find you’re facing new, baffling difficulties that your current program isn’t adequately addressing? Or do you feel like your recovery has slowed down and you can’t shift out of first gear? If so, perhaps it’s time to revisit the Fourth Step.
My name is ____________________ (fill in the blank). I have a disease/disorder/dysfunction/addiction/mental illness (whatever you want to call it) where my brain tells me I should:
Having a sponsor and working the Steps are good; but, for me an accountability circle seems to work the best. I need people who are like me, who I can check in with hourly, daily, and weekly to keep current in my recovery. This helps me through the highs and lows of life.
We are people who have a problem with our sexual thoughts or behaviors. Our experience is that we are addicted to lust and to compulsive sexual acts. For this reason we call ourselves Sexaholics. Practically none of us accepted at first that we were addicted. However, as we listened to others who said they were sexaholics, we came to believe that we do have a common problem and that we have a solution.
This line comes from an old Simon and Garfunkel song and it describes what happens to me whenever I have a slip in the program. Each time I slip, I slide further away from my Higher Power. I do believe it is possible to have a program without slips. That was the theme of the Colorado Evergreen conference this year: “Recovery without Relapse.”
This is the best day of my life! Not because I am here sharing my story with you, not because of any anniversary or birthday. It is the best day of my life, because this is all I have… TODAY.
