In a recent meeting, a new person said, "I have so many advanced degrees, I should be able to figure this recovery out." Oh, how we wish this were true. It would make our lives so much easier. An education process would work and our problems would be solved.
That process may work for non-addicts but addicts are different. People addicted to tobacco will know all the warnings and logic, and smoke anyway. Alcoholics may know all the dangers, but drink anyway. Outside of recovery, no matter how much we learn about our problem, we continue to act out.
Our problem is more than a lack of knowledge.
We have a spiritual problem and need a spiritual solution.
(Spirituality is something we define for ourselves.)
Recovery from sexual addiction is different from anything else we have done in our lives.
At the moment of struggle with our addiction, we need to connect with a power
outside of ourselves that has more sanity than we have.
How much do I treat this recovery as an academic exercise and focus on learning facts?
How much do I find myself trying to find "the right answers" in this process?
How much do I want to do this recovery on my own or run the recovery process my way?