Language of Unity A number of years ago, my intergroup passed a motion supporting our belief that while meeting formats may differ, there is but one Overeaters Anonymous. Over the last few months, we had discussed as a group the “language of unity.” We agreed that what we call ourselves and each other can serve to unite or divide us. One of OA’s … Read More
Q&A Soirée Last year in January, I decided that a good OA service I could provide would be to offer a newcomers’ question-and-answer session every three or four months. (I’ve been an abstinent member of Overeaters Anonymous since 2000, and I’m maintaining a healthy body weight.) I simply kept a list of all the newcomers who attended the meeting I go to … Read More
Group Project Having a spiritual awakening meant admitting my need for other people. Before OA, I was convinced it was up to me to stop eating compulsively. But having a group that works together potentiates any project’s effectiveness. Hearing others share about similar issues with food and feeling the group’s support have both helped my recovery. Also, by changing my relationship to … Read More
A Better Understanding I have heard it said, “A meeting is a meeting,” but I don’t really think that’s true. For a meeting to be strong, it must have certain things about it to make it so: Is the meeting a welcoming place for both long timers and newcomers? Is the nature of our illness discussed? In my opinion, a strong meeting will … Read More
Today, I Will Be There It suddenly dawned on me: the problem with the strength of our nearby meetings was me. I wasn’t sitting in a chair every meeting. It had never occurred to me before that my non-attendance would make any difference. But what if a newcomer came to a meeting and no one was there? How would it affect a person who braved … Read More
Intentionally Strong We can be intentional about strengthening our OA meetings. At your next group conscience meeting, try these conversation starters: What is a “strong meeting” for you? If someone told you their meeting was struggling, what specific suggestions would you offer? What actions might you be willing to take to help a struggling meeting or strengthen a meeting you attend? OA has … Read More
Attractive Basics The first OA meeting I attended had all the elements of a strong meeting, and it still does seventeen years later. I continue to attend the Saturday morning Back to Basics meeting in Oakland, California, with about forty other compulsive eaters. We study one Step and its corresponding Tradition for an entire month, and each week, we read from OA-approved … Read More
The Regulars We call ourselves “The Regulars,” although there’s nothing regular about any of us, except this: we keep coming back to our 7 a.m. meetings, Monday through Friday, week after week. Many of us come every day, some only on certain days, and several core members have been showing up for many years. What, you may ask, would drive us to … Read More
Scripting Strength About ten years ago, my home meeting was dealing with talkative, unruly, and sensitive newcomers. The meeting was beginning to feel unsafe. We regulars, being the people pleasers we are, considered just letting them talk without a time limit. Luckily, sanity ruled that out. We considered removing them from the meeting by having a special “newcomer time” in another space. … Read More
Multifaceted Meeting I love my Saturday Abington meeting because it is so strong. The following qualities all contribute to its strength: The meeting only uses OA-approved literature and material downloaded from the oa.org website. Newcomers and returning members are acknowledged and given a Serenity Prayer coin and newcomer literature or a Welcome Back, We Care! packet. Greeters make a point of talking … Read More