Building Balance For me, the beauty of unity is realizing I’m not alone in this disease of compulsive eating. I never knew that others had the same beast inside, compelling them to eat everything in sight—I felt like a freak because of it, a freak inside and out, my heavy body an outward manifestation of the obsession within. Just knowing I’m not … Read More
Course to Consensus We may be a group of abstinent and recovering compulsive overeaters, but our individual defects seem to be quick to surface when important decisions need to be made, especially decisions that affect our group and meeting format. Thank goodness we have the Traditions to guide us. “Our common welfare should come first,” but Tradition One is hard to follow sometimes … Read More
Get Together I had a wonderful experience with some fellow OA members recently. We showed up at our meeting place and could not get in. The door had a timer lock with no key, and it did not open. How is this wonderful? I’m getting to that. We waited ten minutes after the meeting start time, then decided to head to a … Read More
Tradition 12: Fallen Star I was the self-appointed poster child for OA: I had physical recovery, I performed a lot of service, and I had several sponsees. My phone rang day and night. I was asked to speak at marathons and retreats. I wasn’t anonymous, and I didn’t want to be anonymous—I was a star. I was lacking in self-esteem, and OA offered a … Read More
Tradition 11: Attractive Anonymity Living in a small town, I found it difficult to maintain anonymity. At first, I did not want anyone to know I was a member of OA. My meeting took place in the church I attended, so I felt somewhat uncomfortable. Later, I helped the members find another meeting space. Then there was the challenge of finding ways to attract … Read More
Tradition 10: Capital Idea I recently had a spiritual aha moment: Many of us learned that a proper noun is not just a person, place, or thing, but a specific person, place, or thing, usually beginning with a capital letter. If I’m talking about a proper noun in a meeting, I’m probably referring to an outside issue (and possibly breaking the spirit of anonymity). In … Read More
Tradition 9: Alive and Well Our group has no government, no permanent officeholders, no small committee that runs everything, and no authorities. Instead, we encourage rotation of service for all offices. Our longest-term members are not even informal leaders. Instead, they are only members among members. (Sometimes longtimers’ perspectives make them more sensitive to Tradition breaks than newer members, but we are all encouraged to … Read More
Tradition 8: Labor of Love I remember when I was new to OA. I sat with my first sponsor, going over my journaling on Step One. It took quite a bit of time, and I couldn’t believe how patiently my sponsor sat there, listening. She wasn’t giving advice. Periodically she shared her experience, strength, and hope, but mostly, she just offered the gift of understanding. … Read More
Tradition 7: Strive to Give I schlepped into my first OA meeting late and in dirty clothes, fearful of the people around me. I left early too. But I kept coming back, and eventually I found sanity, a benevolent higher power, and abstinence. I’ve recently become interested in exploring the Traditions at a deeper level. This is what Tradition Seven means to me. I strive to … Read More
Tradition 6: Simplicity With money, property, or prestige comes responsibility. We already have enough responsibility. When anyone, anywhere, reaches for help, I want the hand of OA to always be there, and for that I am responsible. I struggle along well enough, one day at a time, in this world of confusion and misunderstanding. I get some relief from my addiction, and then … Read More