Grieving In Recovery
It never seems to get old, even though I’ve been driving to these regional conferences now for over a quarter century. I’m just appreciating these special times all the more since they were interrupted for a couple of years by the pandemic.
A few years after the Flemish IG began, Luc brought up the idea of organizing a larger workshop or convention. We also looked to SA in the Netherlands for collaboration. This happened several times during workshops with old-timers. A few years ago, a tradition emerged: an annual Dutch-language convention, alternately organized by the Dutch and the Flemish IG.
I am very lucky to have an experienced therapist who is a man my age and who has also personally worked the 12 Steps for his own addiction issues; he thoroughly supports 12 Step programs. I have found this kind of outside professional help to be a very positive complement to my recovery in SA.
A Legacy of Recovery through the Eyes of Those She Helped
I started this 12 Step program from the bottom after committing adultery. What was left was me saying, “I know a solution. I'm going to commit suicide, and then I'll blame everybody else. That it’s all their fault.”
Flirting Was a Real High for Me by Sylvia J. (at six years SA sober) with the original 1989 title Reprinted in Member Stories 2007, pages 120-123 with the title “The Only Way I Knew”
In my memory, the expression “good grief” was a common expletive of the cartoon characters in Peanuts. For much of my life, I used “good grief” to express astonishment, dismay, and frustration, never considering the deeper truth hidden within the euphemism. Before I entered the SA program (10/21/1998), I lived with an accumulation of frozen grief. Only after a couple of journeys through the steps did I begin to understand and embrace the benefits of grieving. I realized that journeying through grief was healing and good for me.
Sylvia participated in the early history of Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) and was a primary figure in the development of SA’s current service structure.
