Our Program, Our Life
When we talk about “Our Program”, we are not talking about a course, a syllabus or a plan. We are talking about a way of life, a process, a new beginning that will bring us closer to a state of being that is the opposite of our sex addiction – living in recovery. The first step in Our Program is attending a meeting.
When we start attending meetings of Sex Addicts Anonymous®, many of us are surprised to meet people who are enjoying life and experiencing freedom from the painful, compulsive behaviors that had brought them to SAA. Listening to other members share about their recovery, we gradually realize that in order to make the same kind of progress, we need to be willing to do whatever it takes to get sexually abstinent, and to stay abstinent from sexually destructive behaviours. We have learned from hard experience that we cannot achieve and maintain abstinence if we aren’t willing to change our way of life. But if we can honestly face our problems, and are willing to change, the Twelve Steps of SAA will lead to an awakening that allows us to live a new way of life according to spiritual principles. Taking these steps allows fundamental change to occur in our lives. They are the foundation of our recovery.
In taking this journey, we commit fully to the process of recovery. We make the program our top priority, in the knowledge that anything less puts us at risk. We learn to listen with an open mind at meetings. Gradually, we stop picking and choosing what we are willing to change and begin to open ourselves to the changes our “Higher Power” wills for us. We learn to go to any lengths for our recovery – because we are worth it.
Excerpts from Sex Addicts Anonymous®, 2nd edition, pgs. 62 & 63.
More information can be found on the International Service Organization website.