S-Anon Tradition 5 – One Purpose
It’s May, the fifth month of the year and our continuing
study of the Twelve Traditions of S-Anon brings us to Tradition 5. Each
S-Anon Family Group has but one purpose: to help families of sexaholics. We do
this by practicing the Twelve Steps of S-Anon, by encouraging and understanding
our sexaholic relatives, and by welcoming and giving comfort to the families of
sexaholics.
This Tradition, like the Eleven others were all adapted from
the Twelve Traditions of AA. The Fifth Tradition of AA reads Each
group has but one primary purpose —to carry the message to the alcoholic who
still suffers. The article about the Fifth Tradition in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions says
“The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.”
Early AA’s had a saying “Put the plug in the jug, clean
house and help others”. Before we came to our first meeting, many of us thought
that our partnership was inextricably broken. Many members of S-Anon Couples in
Recovery have found that applying the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions within a
coupleship leads to improvements in trust, honesty, hope and commitment.
The members of the S-Anon Couples in Recovery groups have
demonstrated that they can help other families where others seldom can. What we
can transmit to the new couple is not dependent on therapy, eloquence or
education but on our own experience. We have a legacy of suffering and recovery
that we pass freely onto others that seek relief. This is our primary purpose.
A great paradox of all twelve step programs is that we can
only keep as much recovery as we are willing to give away. We must carry the
message to those families that don’t know there is a way out.
