(This is a post from a member of our group.)
I "got started" in SA twice. The first time was way back when I was in my 20's. I heard about SA, I found out where there was a meeting, and I went. It was great. I found lots of people like me.
There were also a smaller number of people at the meeting who were not like me. They were the sober ones. They had recovery. They had peace and joy. They certainly did understand how it was for me, because they had been through the same experiences as me, and those experiences brought them to SA just like me. But in SA, they had found a real solution.
I had not yet found a solution. And so for the next 20 years, I went in an out of SA meetings, dabbling in the Steps, and relapsing often. Sometimes I'd just give up entirely and resolve to the fact that I was never going to change. At other times I tried a combination of SA meetings and other religious and counseling help. Nothing I tried and nothing I came up with worked.
There came a day five and a half years ago when I "got started" all over again. But this time was different. I had finally had enough. I had finally reached the point that our SA book talks about where I "really wanted to stop, but could not". I was defeated, I was broken, I was hating myself, I was hopeless, and I was helpless. Recovering people refer to this as a "pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization." It was painful. And when that happened, I finally gave up doing things my way, surrendered to God by committing to find a sponsor and do whatever he told me to do. And I knew enough to know that meant I'd be working the 12 Steps under his direction.
How can someone get started in SA? Go to meetings, find a sponsor who's worked the Steps and has what you want, and commit to doing whatever that sponsor says. It's really that simple to get started in the SA program of recovery.
