Magazine

SEPTEMBER 2005

SECOND TIME AROUND — This issue of the ESSAY includes a story about how a member used the recovery program of SA to change his life, some thoughtful short essays by members, and a list of topics for the Meditations book for SA.

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In Every Issue

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Enjoy reading all the articles of the current magazine below.

Poetry Corner
It was fear that brought me into recovery, But fear will not keep me sober.

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To a Newcomer
I left the ways of the old life behind. Now I ride with the gulls in the stream, Among the wayward sirens singing. To whom do you prefer to turn?

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Working the Steps
I’ve always had an approach-avoidance relationship with working the Steps. I always feel great after having done some writing on a Step, but it can take quite a long time for me to stop the squirrel cage long enough to actually sit down and start writing. The fact that I took five years to work the first three Steps in the program tells me that I wasn’t in any great hurry to recover from my self-destructive behaviors and attitudes.

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Service
Although I had finally gotten sober for several months, I was still very disturbed by old resentments and fears, and was dragging my feet on the Step I was supposedly working on. One day, after expressing frustration over my stagnation to my sponsor, he suggested that if I did some sort of service it would raise the ante in my program.

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Remembering Dan
Dan N. was my sponsor. He died on June 22nd at his home in Kimberling City, MO. Having tried unsuccessfully to work the program on my own my first five years in SA, I decided after a terrifying night of acting out that I needed to work the Steps with someone who was successfully staying sober, had a way of solving his problems that worked, and had a peace of mind that I didn’t have. Dan had what I wanted, and was willing to share what he had with me.

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