Service Tools & Concepts Giving and Living When I arrived at my first OA meeting in August 1999, a member greeted me at the door. When I walked into the meeting room, …
Steps Traditions Stepping Up to Recovery I cannot believe I have been abstinent long enough to have made it to Step Twelve. When I first came to this program, I woul…
Service Tools & Concepts What Keeps Me Service is what keeps me in the program. There is no “as if” in it; my life truly does depend on it. Doing service at the gr…
Service Tools & Concepts Keeping Focused I am grateful for sixteen years and six months of abstinence, by the grace of God and this Fellowship. It is a gift to serve…
Service Tools & Concepts What Service Is From the very beginning of my time in the OA rooms, I heard that service is a Tool. However, I never thought about it as a w…
Service Tools & Concepts Spiritual Feast I confess that service was never the first option for me. I went to meetings to vent my sorrows and problems, to be heard in…
Steps Traditions Being Human Tradition Twelve brings the concept of equality to my mind. I hear that members of Twelve Step programs come from everywhere…
Recovery Working the Program Promises Missed I enjoyed my August 2014 Lifeline very much but think the issue’s title could have been better. I am a huge fan of the Big B…
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Sponsors and Food Plans Q. I am an OA member who has embraced a specific way of eating. My current sponsor suggested I try to find a sponsor who may…
Fellowship Recovery Viva OA I do not have an adequate vocabulary to describe Region Eight’s first international assembly and convention in South America…
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Not So Ridiculous I’ve been recovering in Overeaters Anonymous for more than thirty five years. I came to OA as a teen, having been bulimic for several years and unable to be truthful with myself. I felt I was unable t… Read More
Higher Power Spirituality Honest to God Surrender is such a simple yet profound concept. When thought about, it seems so impossible and distant, yet when practiced, it is right at my fingertips. I find this dichotomy strange. In my religion… Read More
The Road Narrows My twenty-ninth birthday in OA is approaching, and it is cause for renewed reflection about my program. I spoke to my sponsor a week ago and mentioned to her that I was thinking of not taking a candle this year. Other OA members on their birthdays pitch about life changes: weddings, kids, jobs, financial gain, or acquisition of cars. I … Read More
Birthday Share As I celebrate my twentieth birthday of abstinent recovery in OA, I am filled with gratitude, joy, and hope. Prior to February 14, 1996, these incredible gifts were in short supply as I navigated through life, bingeing and depressed, depressed and bingeing. For decades, I expended endless amounts of energy keeping up appearances and maintaining my dirty little facade. I was … Read More
Recovery Beyond Measure In a few days, I will celebrate thirty-eight years of recovery in OA. Today my goal is health, sanity, and wellness, not a size 8. Physically, my body has been a normal size for many years. G-d has removed the compulsion for what I call “the hard stuff”—the stuff you see at the grocery checkout counter. I have reached a … Read More