September 2005

Second Time Around

Sunrays and Stingrays

Being born in August and growing up near the ocean, it was natural for my family to celebrate my birthday each year at one of the nearby beaches. After a day of living it up, I would come back burned to a crisp and covered with lesions given me by the local stingrays (well, okay, they were only jellyfish, but being an addict I tend toward the dramatic).

By |2024-09-24T14:59:53-05:00September 20, 2005|Comments Off on Sunrays and Stingrays

Inexperience, Strength, and Hope

All I can share is my experience, and my experience has been that so many times I have had opinions and given advice to others about matters about which I never had any experience. I was like a man who tried to tell someone how to fix his carburetor when he had never opened the hood to his own car.

By |2024-09-24T14:59:48-05:00September 20, 2005|Comments Off on Inexperience, Strength, and Hope

Recycling Sobriety Chips

Tonight I had the honor of presenting my SA sponsor with a 19-year chip. It is a brand new chip. He saves his chip and presents it to me each September, fifteen months later. We have been doing this for years. I think that receiving a chip from a member who has carried it for a year makes it even more special.

By |2024-09-24T14:59:44-05:00September 20, 2005|Comments Off on Recycling Sobriety Chips

Eradicating Ego

I have found no way of permanently eradicating my ego. For me, living in Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are not enough. It takes resubmitting to all the Steps formally again and again. It is not really that hard when I can see my current level of unmanageability to do a new First Step.

By |2024-09-24T14:59:39-05:00September 20, 2005|Comments Off on Eradicating Ego

Becoming and Staying Sexually Sober

Okay, I understood that part about no sex with anyone other than the spouse. Heck, that’s what got me to Sexaholics Anonymous in the first place. But no sex with myself? Who were these guys kidding? Didn’t they understand that if I refrained from sex with self, something terrible would happen? I might even die, or explode, or something equally dire.

By |2024-09-24T14:59:35-05:00September 20, 2005|Comments Off on Becoming and Staying Sexually Sober

Second Time Around

I stood in disbelief. The computer screen had three emails from women at work that I was acting out with. My wife was crying, asking me, “Why?” I was in shock. I stood there physically present, but emotionally far, far away. I was numb to my feelings, to my life, and to myself.

By |2024-09-24T14:59:30-05:00September 20, 2005|Comments Off on Second Time Around