ESSAY Magazine (An International Journal of Sexaholics Anonymous)

SIP and TRADITION 11: Attraction or Promotion?
A closer look at the Traditions helps groups and committees discern whether they are in the problem or the solution.
SIP (Support for Institutions and Professionals) committee members sometimes get asked the question: Is SIP work attraction or promotion?

When he acts in God’s will, the world is forever changed.
At the Mayflower Hotel, Bill feels the craving for a drink slowly rising in his mind. Without the slightest resistance, Bill gives in to the insane idea. He walks toward the hotel bar and orders a glass of gin—then another, and another. His allergy plays its final hand. A week later, Bill dies from alcohol poisoning.

The Traditions allow the Fellowship to exist in order to carry the message of recovery.
The Twelve Traditions are the foundation of SA life, and deserve full attention. Without them, factions, personalities, outside interests, and money would easily destroy us. It is the Traditions, formed with much trial and error by AA, and adapted for SA, which keep us safe from these pressures and free us to concentrate on our lives of recovery and service.

He and his group could survive and thrive with the Traditions.
The Twelve Traditions of SA are a vital adjunct to the Twelve Steps of SA. While the Twelve Steps help the individual sexaholic recover and enjoy life, the Twelve Traditions help SA groups survive and thrive. As my grand sponsor colorfully described it, “The Twelve Steps help prevent sexaholics from committing suicide, while the Twelve Traditions prevent us from committing homicide—and the Twelve Concepts prevent us from committing genocide!”

She learned that she is safe and protected within the boundaries of the Traditions and Concepts.
I serve in an SA group and on an SA Trustee committee. I’ve learned that the Concepts and Traditions are boundaries that not only protect people from me but also protect me from people. These boundaries, the Traditions and Concepts, tell me where a group or person ends and where I begin. When I break one of these boundaries, I am blocked by self in some way, and the service to others is harmed. The Steps help me get unblocked, make amends when necessary, and reconnect to God and His will for me. Part of His will is maintaining the boundaries of the Traditions and Concepts, which allow me to serve in a healthy way. 

His “right of decision” comes with the responsibility to listen to God and others before deciding. 
Concept 3: “To ensure effective leadership, we should endow each element of [SA’s] service structure, the General Delegate Assembly, and the Board of Trustees and its staffs and Committees with a traditional ‘Right of Decision‘” (Service Manual ch. 1 p. 3).

Calling out the myths in service helps her to identify what is true.
My sponsors taught me that service is essential to my recovery and that I cannot completely work the Steps without it. Working together in service gives me a rare opportunity to put my program into action. Recovery is about healing relationships, and that occurs in the small everyday interactions. Recovery is in the small stuff.

Practicing recovery, unity, and service daily set her on a course to a fulfilling new life. 
 “Always look at the Three Legacies (recovery, unity, and service) to see how you are doing in your recovery. What are your weak spots? What are your strengths?” I learned this from an SA member six years ago when I began attending a mixed meeting. I have never forgotten it.