Dear ESSAY
Dear Essay, The theme for this issue is Sobriety in the Holidays. I’d like to share a holiday memory.
My Halloween
I was nervous, well no, anxious, afraid. I couldn’t pinpoint why, but it seemed to have something to do with the fact that it was Halloween night.
Holidays Then and Now
Sexaholism drove my view of holidays in the past. I hated them; they always took the focus away from my misery. When I couldn’t have my misery, I surely gave it away freely. Everyone around me was irritable, restless and discontent!
Everyday Gratitude
My wife and I were putting away the Christmas tree. It’s an artificial tree with lights wired into it, and we like the way it looks in the front window at night.
Willing to Be Vulnerable
Thanksgiving 2010 was a sunny day in San Diego, and I had nowhere to go for dinner. This scene was scary. It fed into my history of isolating and living inside my head, away from family and other relationships. I usually made plans to be with friends on holidays, but it didn’t work out that year.
Grateful for the Fellowship
The holiday season can be the most difficult time of year for many of us, myself included, but it is important to remember that we truly are blessed. Blessed with friends who care about what happens in our lives—friends who care about us in spite of our past, not because of it. If I have learned nothing else during my time in SA, I have learned that I never need to be alone again.
Holidays
Well, it happened again. I sat waiting in the parking lot because the person who has the key did not show up. Perhaps someone has decided that, since this was a holiday, everyone would be busy with family and would not get to a meeting. I did not get that message.
Carrying the Message Behind Bars
My friend Chris began his recovery from sexual addiction after being arrested in 2007 for a sex-related crime. In 2008, shortly after celebrating one year of sexual sobriety, he learned that he could plead guilty and receive a 15-year sentence, or he could go to trial.
