Been going to the SPAA meetings less, now only on Mondays and Thursdays.
I pushed myself away from attending daily meetings in
order to distance myself from listening to litanies of depressing shares I
often encounter in the meetings. But the two days of meetings capture my
interest and convince me to share more
often and more willingly.
Despite the above sentiment, I find a tiny glimmer of
light in the pitch-black cavern of despair about addiction to pornography,
because that glimmer is what SPAA offers to its members. Hope. As of this publication
date, I have 200 days of back-to-back SPAA defined sobriety, a gift of this hope; That definition is no viewing of pornography, no masturbation and no sex outside of a committed relationship. Here is a Doctor's opinion about the SPAA program of recovery.
I offer two major highlights to stress what I find prospers my recovery from my sex and porn addiction.
One is to work the 12 Steps, this post about Steps One
through Step Four.
Doing Step One as worked in the SPAA program dissolved any and all surviving notions in myself that I’m NOT a sex
and porn addict. The evidences as I wrote out the Step One dissipated any and
all lingering vestiges of doubt.
Step Two dovetailed with Step One in that it convinced
me of the myriad forms and instances of my insane behaviors when it came to
sexuality. It cautions me today to be aware of these proclivities which
threaten where my sobriety lives in relative peace.
With Step Three I decided to turn my will and life
over to the care of God as I understand God. When I first took Step Three in
the OA program of recovery, God planted a tiny seed in the soil of my soul that
has grown deep roots. These roots steady a harmonious relationship with Him
even while tumult shakes the outside exteriors.
When I worked Step Four, and listed the people I had
harmed, this prepared the path towards making amends to them. The amends freed
me of guilt and in most cases restored health to infected relationships. Step Four
also cautions me to be aware so as to avoid inadvertent future harms to those
currently in my life.
Step Four sets up a template for work that when
followed deepens understanding of my nature. It answers the questions of how
that nature has been warped. It reveals patterns of self-concepts and thought
processes which limit my personal freedom. Working the steps shines lights of truth about myself
in a manner indispensable. For instance, I cannot forgive myself for the errors
of my past behaviors unless they are recognized.
On to the next, number two is to be sponsored and be a
sponsor.
My SPAA sponsor’s work as the guide through the
working of the steps has been indispensable in the ongoing
work of my recovery. I need his guidance and he supplies it with an
understanding of my defects of character, especially those magnified by my
addiction to porn. Not a defect in me has been foreign to him.
Disclosures between us of an intensely
personal nature cement a bond between us, not only of friendship but also of
comradeship in the common SPAA task of regenerating our souls. Working with my
sponsee in SPAA also is integral to my recovery process. His recovery welfare
is what most matters to me. I share the experiences I encountered while doing the
step work, how I worked the steps and how that work benefits my own recovery
journey.
I am finding it true the aphorism that the sponsor gets
more out of sponsoring than does the sponsee.