Monday, August 24th
August 24th – Sensitivities and Mutual Support
Personal recovery depends upon SCA unity.
In our active compulsion, we used sex to escape from strong negative feelings: to hide from our anxieties and fears. We may have felt a sense of entitlement, which we often displayed through pride and grandiosity. We were quick to take offense from perceived slights and add these to our resentment replays, sometimes lashing out in anger or perhaps seeking refuge in our secret compulsive activities.
Some of us bring these sensitivities into our recovery program. We might instinctively try to veil our deep-seated shame and low self-esteem by resisting suggestions or advice, however lovingly given. We may avoid confrontations but develop new resentments against other members, leading to self-sabotaging our recovery. “That’ll show them,” we may think. Such thoughts might make us feel better in the short-term, similar to the high we got from our acting-out behaviors. In effect, we are acting out all over again, just in a different context.
SCA is a “we” program. We mutually support each other in recovery by sharing at meetings, sponsorship, fellowship, and service. We might not always identify with what we hear, but we do not need to assume that others’ shares are slights directed against us. We can remember the slogan Easy does it.
Take what you need and leave the rest.