Service Live and Learn—and Serve If I accept the circumstances I am in, I am given the opportunity to learn and serve. To learn and serve is the agreement I …
Traditions Service and Belonging Our First Tradition states, “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.” To be part of t…
Higher Power New York City Stalkers They stalked me the length of the block, down the subway stairs, onto the #2 train, through the whole ride to 96th Street, w…
Higher Power Tools & Concepts All of This Is Okay I’m afraid I’ll do it wrong. I’m afraid my sponsees will find out I’m a fraud. What if they don’t like me, won’t do what I t…
Fellowship Tools & Concepts Sponsorship I reach out my palm and you touch my heart. Together we make a valiant start. We guard against any halfway measure As we emb…
Working the Program Adjusting Focus I was a great believer in whatever the next diet, philosophy, or trick was. You see, I knew there was a solution. Desperate,…
Fellowship Tools & Concepts All Human I was enjoying a new relationship with a sponsor, and everything seemed to be going very well. I was preparing to do Step Fi…
Fellowship Tools & Concepts Prayers Answered I always start the story of my first sponsor by saying it was totally a “God thing.” I was living in Heidelberg, the only Ge…
Service Tools & Concepts The Blessing of Technology I first came to OA almost seventeen years ago. At that time, I lived in a large city where many OA meetings were available. …
Recovery Working the Program Bitter is Better I am a 62-year-old male, and since I came into program at the end of March 2015, my marriage has been restored and my family…
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