Tuesday, August 25th
August 25th – Harm Reduction and Sobriety
Our purpose is not to make our sex lives more rigid but to free them from harmful behaviors.
Many of us were so self-absorbed in our sexual compulsion that we failed to connect our actions with their consequences. We only wanted to satisfy our urge for more and to find the oblivion we desperately sought. For some, our view of the world narrowed until compulsive sex was all we could see.
Sexual compulsion became an overused and ineffective tool to help us deal with life’s ups and downs. It became automatic, a repetitive act, and we forgot or gave up on other ways of living.
“My nightly search for sex had become a ritual. I routinely had unsafe sex because I no longer cared about what might happen to me.”
Admitting our powerlessness and unmanageability begins to open cracks in the wall we have built around us. We find a way to connect to hope: that we can stop harming ourselves and others and that sobriety will expand our lives.
The spiritual process of recovery can enable our willingness to change. We gradually achieve change by modifying our behaviors, embracing our feelings, learning to accept who we are, and having compassion for ourselves and others.
We will discover that sexual sobriety is more rewarding than compulsive sex.