Relapse Twelfth Step Within All the Way In A couple of months ago, I was out walking my dogs when I received a call from one of the many names in my contacts list to w…
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts The Only Thing That Worked Hi, I’m Chris B., a compulsive overeater and powerless over food. I would not be alive today if I didn’t sponsor. I say this…
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Speed Dating for Sponsors At our annual retreat, a miscommunication turned into a fantastic new workshop. When the leader of a session on sponsorship …
Uncategorized Reframing the Puzzle Some of my worst character defects come out when I’m at work. As a perfectionist, I worry that I’ll make a mistake, but I al…
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Perfect Meetings, Perfect Sponsors Our program works without us working it perfectly. I’m celebrating thirty years of abstinence, and I don’t even know how “wo…
Higher Power Spirituality Fresh and Vital While doing some writing about the “vital spiritual experience” described in the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th. ed., p…
Telephone Tools & Concepts Mountain Call I’ve always loved hiking and being in the mountains. When I gained enough confidence after three years of working an OA prog…
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity The Doctors on the Road to Recovery Two doctors gave me tough love at crucial times in my recovery, for which I am now grateful, though I wasn’t at the time. Sh…
Tools & Concepts A Potent and Positive Influence After I’d been in OA about two months, stayed abstinent for more than thirty days, and finished my first three Steps, my mee…
Tools & Concepts Professional Planning When I came into OA in July of 1995, I was working for a weight-loss company and terrified of losing my job because of my we…
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