Tools & Concepts Writing Feeling Intentional I write this as the food is calling to me.” This quote from page 13 of A New Beginning: Stories of Recovery from Relapse str…
Steps Priceless Peace Before I was halfway through my Ninth Step, I experienced, as the Big Book promises, a new freedom I’d never dreamed was pos…
Meetings Tools & Concepts Talking Points At our meetings, before the meeting is opened up for sharing, someone always reads the statement on cross talk from the Sugg…
Service Tools & Concepts Health Fair Help from HP One Friday in September, from noon to 6:00 p.m., our DC Metro Intergroup sponsored a table at a wellness fair in Silver Spri…
Diversity Newcomers Looking Forward I spent the past three years mostly unhappy. I lost both my parents, my second marriage failed, and my children had issues w…
Recovery Relationships Light in Real Life First, I had to get past the mourning stage. I arrived at OA grieving the loss of my best friend, lover, and confidante—my g…
Share It Longtime Lifeline I love Lifeline magazine. I’ve always loved it, even when I didn’t like this or that particular article I read over the year…
Gratitude Recovery Summer Steps and Smiles As I reflect on the unofficial start of the summer season, I’m filled with gratitude for OA. I first came into these sacred …
Recovery An Everyday Clean Whenever I’m frustrated in my program or in life, or when my selfish, lazy self wants an easy way out, I try to remember tha…
Steps Stepping to Freedom Entering the rooms of OA nearly three decades ago, I anticipated that I’d be given a diet based on restriction and dep…
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