Recovery Working the Program Root Wound From a very early age, food was my primary source of comfort, for bonding and coping with feelings. When I moved on to colle…
Traditions Pressure-Free How did I come to Overeaters Anonymous? A therapist who saw successful recovery in her clients recommended OA to me. I’d gon…
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Living Proof A sponsor has what a newcomer wants: abstinence! I wouldn’t be able to sponsor if I was in the food. It would be like a drun…
Recovery Working the Program The Difference Was Spiritual I joined OA about six years ago. I had been overweight and fighting late night bingeing most of my adult life, and I came in…
Recovery Working the Program The Silent Engine We gather in our meetings to share our experience, strength, and hope—I hear that expression frequently. We talk about our e…
Recovery Working the Program From Great Fall to Grateful I would like to tell you how I think the character, Humpty Dumpty, can be like some compulsive overeaters. Humpty Dumpty had…
Tools & Concepts Working the Program Eight Other Tools Here I sit, self-quarantined in the middle of a viral pandemic after returning home from the teeming petri dishes of an airp…
Recovery Working the Program Learning More Each Day After several starts, I found myself knowing that OA was for me, thanks to the acceptance I got from longtimers and other me…
Recovery Working the Program Able to Identify A simple definition of insanity is “unsound reasoning and judgment.” Where has my reasoning and judgment been unsound around…
Traditions Wisdom in Contributing OA has always impressed me in how well it works, obviously due to Higher Power’s brilliant Twelve Traditions. The Seventh Tr…
How OA Changed My Life Recovery True Freedom When a fellow OA member suggested I reflect on what true freedom looks like for me, I discovered I could probably write a book. Before OA, I truly felt I already had it in the form of a solid career, … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality Stepping-Stones, Nuggets, and Gems Spirituality is the solution to our problem of powerlessness, and we find this solution in the Twelve Step program of recovery. I’ve experienced three stepping-stones in this process: Amen, Amends, Am… 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
Share It: Powerful Shares, Joyful Reading, Pages and Prayers Powerful Shares I wanted to share how sad I am to hear about the discontinuation of Lifeline. It has literally been a lifeline to me. I am one of the ones who answered your 2018 subscription appeal, and I recently renewed my subscription and will cherish every last issue. Thank you for the articles about “The Joys of Retreats and … 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