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June 19

“Our focus remains on the solution, rather than the problem.”

Sex Addicts Anonymous, page 12

This phrase made no sense to me when I first started attending SAA meetings. I was in treatment and was clueless about the solution. I barely got the problem. Weren’t we meeting to focus on sex addiction? And wasn’t that the problem?

Over time, I’ve heard members sharing their experience, strength, and hope. I’ve read the literature. I hear that each of us still has problems, and we’re all still sex addicts, but we face problems squarely. Yet I hear members describing real change— not only maintaining sexual sobriety, but also responding to and experiencing life in new ways. Invariably, the solution is in the Twelve Steps, applying one or more to a specific problem, along with the gradual changes that come from applying the principles of this program to our lives.

Today I faced an ongoing problem in a relationship. I prayed and listened, and my Higher Power guided me to think differently about the issue. That allowed me to respond differently the next time we interacted. It is a small beginning, yet it is a change, and it is part of the solution.

Today, I will face my problems, but focus on my recovery and live in the solution.