The Miracle of Recovery
[Excerpts from the SA Correctional Facilities Committee Report from the SA International Conference July 2002 in Portland, OR] SACFC Committee Members are: Earl H., Southeast; Allen L., North Midwest; John C., Northeast; Keith S., North Midwest; William R., CFC Coordinator
Dear ESSAY, Last year at this time I picked up a newspaper and turned to Dear Abby for some unknown reason (I know now I was being led). I hadn’t read her column in 20 years. The column was about sex addiction and gave the SA website reference. After visiting the website and Passing or Failing (depending upon one’s point of view) on 18 of the 20 questions, I thought I should find out more about it. Like a true compulsive I ordered every piece of literature from the SA website.
Service work is the greatest gift you can give another sexaholic. This is the practical application of the Seventh Tradition in its purest form. We give money to keep the facilities going; we give of ourselves to keep the fellowship going.
Dear ESSAY Reader, With two new brochures (To the Newcomer and SA as a Resource for Professionals), a third one on the way (regarding Lust), and our collections of stories and practical experience in the two volumes of the Quintessential Essay, our Fellowship is entering a new phase of its growth. Our hope is that our literature will pass on the Twelve Step program handed to us.
On May 10, 2001 Sexaholics Anonymous held its inaugural meeting at the Parr Highway Correctional Facility in Adrian, Michigan. A year has come and gone, and SA continues to thrive at our facility. We now have two weekly meetings, one on Thursday evenings and the other on Saturday afternoons.
My addiction came visiting today, I didn’t let him in the door; I knew what to say!
I was able to make this decision only after I had identified my false beliefs about God, let go of those old ideas, and identified the beliefs and ideas by which I was going to live my life from that moment forward. As a friend of mine suggested, “You’ve got to start living as if you believe what you believe, and stop acting as if you believe what you don’t believe.”
You, My Lust . . . You have been my faithful companion. You gave me a feeling of security. When I panicked, you calmed me down. You gave me highs. With you, I really felt alive. You gave me strength.
Over the years I have become more aware of how many people in our fellowship have limited the term “sex with self” to mean masturbation to orgasm. I believe this is a problem. I could never consider limiting the definition to merely meaning masturbation to orgasm.
My recovery experience as a single woman in Sexaholics Anonymous has been deepened and enriched since my first year of sobriety. Many events compel me to share what I have learned in the course of over six years of sexual sobriety.
