Newcomers Twelve Tools for the Road On December 14, 2016, I was struck abstinent at the close of my first OA meeting. I’d blurted out that I could not give up a…
How OA Changed My Life Trash Talk In the years following high school, I couldn’t hold down a job for more than eight consecutive months, and my residence chan…
How OA Changed My Life Scale Sanity I sometimes hear about innovations in artificial intelligence. Discussions inevitably follow about how machines will take ov…
How OA Changed My Life Working It I have been in the rooms of OA for over eight years. The feeling of being recovered eluded me until recently—but now, throug…
How OA Changed My Life The Brave Person in the Mirror After being a full-time mom to four children, I find myself at a new stage in life; I am now able to travel with my husband …
Higher Power The Addict Mask It is not my job to fight the addict. It has never been my job to fight the addict. I can’t fight the addict. The addict is …
How OA Changed My Life Unwrapping For me, being a compulsive overeater is a gift. It came wrapped in ugly, grimy paper, but it’s still a gift. The ugly paper …
Working the Program Feast or Famine When something is eating away at me, I can discuss it with program friends. When there’s too much on my plate, and I’ve bitt…
Working the Program New Moves In my recovery, I had problems trying to understand the OA program. It was simple, and that was the problem. I was baffled b…
How OA Changed My Life Every Minute, Every Situation The key threads woven into and through my soul and my program of recovery are hope and gratitude. The hope I felt at my firs…
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