Welcome to the Sunlight

Those of us who have come to COSA have found that we share a common thread. Although our stories may be as varied as the colors of the rainbow, each of us have been impacted by another person’s compulsive sexual behavior. The relief we feel as we learn we are not alone allows us to open to the truth.

Although we may have been brought to our first meeting because of another person’s acting out behaviors, we, too, are in the clutches of a dangerous illness.

We may have been too broken, despairing, and lacking in the self-confidence we once possessed to continue to cope with our own lives as they were. We come to find that although we may be capable, dependable, courageous people, we cannot control the impact of the illness of sexual addiction on our lives. We turn our attention away from the sex addict and detach from the emotional turmoil that sexual addiction can bring, turning instead to the proven, workable method by which we can arrest our own illness.

As the kaleidoscope of our personal stories attests, working the Twelve Steps is just as important for us as it is for the sex addict. To remedy our own emotional, physical and spiritual illness, the COSA program offers suggestions, but keep in mind that the basis of our program is spiritual, as evidenced by the Twelve Steps.

As a result of practicing the Steps, the fog that once shrouded our lives begins to lift, and the symptoms of our own dysfunction are removed on a daily basis. The Twelve Steps aid us in our process of surrendering to something greater than ourselves, and we find that the more total our surrender, the more fully realized our freedom from the coping behaviors we learned to use.

Can we guarantee YOU this recovery?

The answer is simple. Those who find the most serenity and recovery do so by honestly facing the truth about themselves and their own illness and have been willing to rely on a power greater than themselves for direction in their own life. They also keep coming back to meetings to talk and listen to other recovering members of the COSA program, and take the Twelve Steps to the best of their ability. If you can commit yourself to these as well, we believe you, too, can indeed join the ranks of those who recover.

Once we become open to our own recovery, the preoccupation with the addict diminishes and in many cases leaves us entirely. As we walk further into the clarity of recovery, we find that to deal with our inner turmoil, we have to have a new way of thinking — of acting on life rather than reacting to it. In essence, a new way of living.

“But I’m too weak. I’ll never make it.”

Don’t worry, we have all thought or said just about the same thing. The amazing secret to the success of this program is just that. It is our common weakness, not our strength, that binds us to each other and to a Higher Power and somehow gives us the ability to do what we cannot do alone.

If you decide you are one of us, we welcome you with open arms. Whatever your circumstances, we offer you the gift of acceptance. You are not alone anymore.

Step into the sunlight of the spirit. Welcome to COSA! Welcome to the Sunlight.

Go to cosa-recovery.org and get the Newcomer’s Packet

Included in “A Newcomers Introduction to COSA”  © Copyright 2006 International Service Organization of COSA