Friday Feb 21, 2025
ESSAY February 2025 - Step One and the Grace of God - Luke H., Oregon, USA
ESSAY Magazine (An International Journal of Sexaholics Anonymous)
The mission of ESSAY is to serve as a source of information, experience, strength and hope to sexaholics, both inside and outside the rooms of Sexaholics Anonymous. Our vision is to provide a high-quality “meeting in print” that gathers together members from around the world. It can serve as a portable “extra meeting” especially for loners and for members who don’t have access to many meetings. In addition, Essay serves as an outreach tool to carry the message to those who have not yet found SA. We strive to include a mix of stories and shares from a wide variety of members, including men and women, prisoners, and international members. In addition, ESSAY provides Fellowship announcements and information on subjects such as new meetings, Fellowship events, and our service structure. We hope that all of the articles we publish will offer useful information and provide experience, strength, and hope to all who suffer from the disease of sexaholism. Fellowship actvities such as international conventions, regional events and local events appear in the Calendar section. Each issue has a theme and various sections to share sexaholic stories and practical tools. In addition to letters and group news, ESSAY offers short, edited articles written by members about recovery and our solution. The Practical Recovery Tools section features members sharing on the topic, “Exactly how I did it.” Submissions may also include meditations, poetry, and humor. ESSAY is guided by the principles of the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts. Each issue contains the following statement:
Listen on:
Episodes
Episodes
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
I am a 50-year-old man in Poland, sober since 2011. I came to the Fellowship in 2007. My first significant stretch of sobriety was for 2.5 years starting in April 2008. Then I ended up in a psychiatric hospital diagnosed with severe depression. I lost my sobriety there, but I immediately reached out to the Fellowship again and found a sponsor. I started the Program all over again. I have been sober ever since.
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
My name is Ana, and I live in Mexico. I thank God for the miracle of quitting my addictive behaviors, those patterns of lust that kept me enslaved for six years. I felt completely captive to the demands of lust, unable to resist even when I wanted to. In the last three months, however, I’ve realized that my recovery goes far beyond just quitting. God has granted me self-control, peace, temperance, discipline, and hope for the future. He has never denied me any of these gifts whenever I sincerely asked. God has given them to me generously and without reproach.
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
I grew up in a religious home. My father was an ordained minister, and our family observed many religious practices. As much as my father preached the doctrine, he did not live the church principles at home, (at least, that’s how I experienced it). My sexual acting out started at a very young age and included isolation, fantasy, secrets, hiding—a real double life.
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
I was a Catholic, then a Protestant … also a pastor, a missionary … and a sexaholic. That was me in a not-so-neat nutshell. God was always a significant part of my life. I fully embraced my mother’s devout religious practice and fully engaged in the church. I loved the fact that people accepted and admired me. Being “a good guy” fit my need for recognition perfectly. The more good you did, the more respect you earned. I embraced that culture wholeheartedly.
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
This was submitted by an inmate as his “one year sober reflection”
My name is James D., and I have been sober since November 29, 2023. Since that day, I have had ups and downs. I’ve had several near-slips and a couple of regrets in the area of lustful thoughts.
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Dear ESSAY,I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the ESSAY team for continuing its vital work after Luc’s passing. Your dedication keeps alive an invaluable resource for our Fellowship worldwide.
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
The whole team at the ESSAY is again uplifted and humbled by your experience, strength, and hope on this month’s theme of “God as We Understand Him.” The other pieces about Practical Tools, Steps & Traditions, Worldwide News, etc. also continue to teach and inspire us.
Please start recording your thoughts about April’s theme, “Rule 62.” Not taking ourselves too seriously has popularly come to be called “Rule 62” because of a clever anecdote about Tradition Four in the 12&12, pages 147-149. Please submit your personal experience with “don’t take yourself too…seriously” before 3/1/2025 with the submission form at essay.sa.org/get-involved/submit-to-essay/ or via email to essay@sa.org.
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
Tuesday Jan 07, 2025
نام من عبدالباری است و من یک معتاد جنسی هستم. دوستانم در آمریکا نامم را بهصورت اَب-دِل-باه-ری تلفظ میکنند، اگر بخواهم صادق باشم؛ هنوز به کلمة «معتاد جنسی» عادت نکردم. من هیچوقت دقیقاً نمیدانستم که چه مشکلی دارم. فکر میکردم که فقط یک آدم عادی با عادت زشتِ تماشای پورن و خودارضایی هستم. ولی آنطور که معلوم شد، اصلاً عادی نبودم.