Step 1 Mini Introduction for Newcomers
We admitted we were powerless over addictive sexual behavior - that our lives had become unmanageable.
KEY PRINCIPLE: Admit that you, of yourself, are powerless to overcome your addictions and that your life has become unmanageable.
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Path to Healing and Recovery WWD - Waterloo, Wellington, Dufferin Cambridge / Guelph SAA |
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moderator
Could I have volunteer reader to read the Step 1 Summary Introduction - part 1
Step 1 intro summary
We admitted that we were powerless over our addictive sexual behavior and that our lives were unmanageable. In order to move from addiction to recovery we need to become honest with ourselves and that is the principle behind the admission of being powerless over the addiction. As long as we can be honest, even a little bit, we can move foreward in our recovery. Admitting that our willpower is insufficient allows us to be open to new ways of thinking and living.
moderator
The following reading is from Voices of Recovery Daily meditation Book - Page 155 June 3
"With this step, we recognize that we have a disease, not a mere weakness or character flaw, and that we are powerless to change this fact"
Shame tells me that I have the power to control my addiction, but that I don't use that power because I'm a bad person, guaranteeing the cycle will continue.
Step One is the beginning of the end for my shame. Admitting powerlessness undoes the lie that I could control my sexual urges if only I were a better person.
Powerlessness allows me to see the truth - my addiction is a progressive disease, affecting my mind, body and spirit. I cannot control this disease with willpower any more than a person with cancer of Parkinson's.
No one judges them for not succeeding. My disease takes away my power of choice when it comes to sexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Powerlessness allows a paradigm shift from me being a bad person who needs to be good, to being a sick person who is getting well through the Twelve Steps of Sex Addicts Anonymous. The disease is never removed, but, one day at a time, the symptoms - harmful sexual behaviors - are lifted and I can begin to live a life with meaning, a life where I am no longer alone.
I am not a bad, unworthy, or weak person; I am just a human being with an illness. SAA offers a remedy for that illness if I'm willing to use it.
By admitting we have become powerless over it, we can examine the painful consequences and that will lead us towards true ownership of our actions and towards recovery."
Stick around, The medicine is right here.
As the simplified first steps says "I’ve got a problem"
Could I have volunteer reader to read the Step 1 Summary Introduction - part 2
In the first step, many of us have found it helpful to examine our sexual behavior in detail. Looking at our own story helps us see how we were powerless over our addiction. In writing a First Step, we list examples of our powerlessness, including the progression of our acting-out behaviors, actions that violated our own values, efforts we made to stop, and occasions where we knew that these behaviors would lead to serious consequences yet did them anyway.
In a written First Step we also list the ways that sex addiction made our lives unmanageable. If we spent money on our addiction, we can try to estimate how much money we spent. If we spent time, we can consider how many hours we spent, including the time we spent in fantasy or obsession. If we took the risk of arrest, violence, or disease, we can examine each specific risk we took. We also write about the specific ways our behaviors affected our physical and mental health, our work, the lives of those we love, and any other consequences, internal or external, that we experienced.
moderator
Could I have volunteer reader to read the Step 1 Summary Introduction - part 3
Our disease left us with little time, energy, or money for anything else. Our fantasies and obsessions distracted us from the things we needed to do. We often neglected our responsibilities and put off doing things that we didn’t want to face. Many of us had a number of simultaneous problems. We had relationships that needed mending, we had financial crises, and we sometimes faced legal problems. The consequences to our inner life were just as serious. Addictive sexual behavior increased our loneliness and insecurity, damaged our self-worth, estranged us from our spiritual nature, and often resulted in emotional trauma. All of these consequences add up to an unmanageable life.
moderator
Summary of Step 1
In Step One, we have admitted that we are powerless over our addiction, now we must find a Power in which we can trust will return sanity to our lives. For many addicts this can be a tough step.
Would any members care to share a brief first step introduction of their journey with our new comer
Newcomers’ Introduction
We would like to welcome you to our meeting. We know the courage it takes walking into these rooms for the first time. All of us in this room were in your shoes at one time.
Our program is a spiritual program. You will hear mention of god but god is a personal reference subject to a person's personal definition.
Addiction is typically accompanied by a loss of spiritual and personal values that surprise and appall us when we examine our personal beliefs and values we have surrendered to our addiction and part of recovery involves reclaiming a the lost values and finding meaning in life again that supercedes the pull of the addiction.
This is a safe environment to share openly.
You are welcome to share and participate or sit back and listen and observe.
After the meeting, please stick around and talk to one of us.
Avail yourself of the resources we have - both in the way of literature and also the people in the room.
We recommend that you come to at least six meetings before you decide whether SAA has anything to offer you. You will find that each meeting is a little bit different. It is our sincerest hope that you find what you are looking for.
