Magazine

DECEMBER 2004

THE ACTIONS OF LOVE — This issue of the ESSAY includes a story about how changing oneself affects every other relationship, some news from members, and a list of topics for the meditations book for SA that is in process.

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In Every Issue

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Enjoy reading all the articles of the current magazine below.

The Actions of Love
When I hit bottom somewhere around end of 1985, my marriage was over and my family was shattered. I was shamed, angry, resentful, and filled with desire for justice and revenge against all the others I was blaming for my situation. I was also aware that no solution was available to me.

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By the Numbers
One Year. Through no particular fault of my own, I recently celebrated one year of SA sobriety—one year of celibacy.

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I Don’t Have to Know the Bus Driver’s Name
For all of the time that I’ve been in recovery I’ve been struggling with the God part, the spiritual part. In my “logical” mind I unquestioningly figured that I had to understand and explain God before l could accept God and live by spiritual principles.

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A New Way to Pray
When I worked Step Eleven for the first time, this new way of praying was shocking. How could I pray without making requests for myself or others? But the Twelve and Twelve is very clear on this—we do not ask for specific things. Period.

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Plain Insanity
It was a significant revelation when I finally realized that I, as well as other sexaholics, am prone to insane thinking. My sponsor was particularly good at pointing this out—I would begin a sentence with “I think…,” and he would say, “That’s your problem—you’re thinking.”

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Shadows to Light
Like most children, I was fascinated by my shadow. I loved to see how it was connected to my feet, how it moved with my motions, how it came and went with the sunshine. After a time, however, my shadow became just another part of me, moving through the day. I lost my awareness of its place in my life.

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Norcross Celebrates First Birthday
In October 2003, three of us sat down to have the first-ever meeting of the Norcross group of SA in northeast Atlanta. At that time there were not many groups meeting in the Atlanta area. We decided that the group would be open to all members of SA, and that the newcomer would be the most important person at any meeting.

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Resources for Women
Are you struggling as a lone woman in a meeting room full of men? We know how scary that can be! We need to be accessible to the newcomer as well as the old-timer woman. What can we do to help?

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Step Seven
Because SA was so new when I came in, there were very few people with even one year’s sobriety. I wanted to hear from people who had a lot of experience, strength and hope in working the Steps. So I started attending a great AA Twelve and Twelve meeting.

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Rule 62
How It Doesn’t Work 1. We admitted we were powerless over nothing—that we could manage our lives perfectly, and those of anyone else who would allow us to do so.

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