Steps A Spiritual Gauge The June 1 readings in For Today and Voices of Recovery are both about Step Six. The way I practice and understand this Step…
Fellowship Tools & Concepts Phone Phenomenon My Higher Power’s grace led me to phone meetings, and after participating in a holiday phone marathon, I was hooked. By now,…
Diversity Virtual Gifts The gifts of this program are incredible. Once, I was in the food and in a relationship with a partner who hated what I ador…
Fellowship Tools & Concepts Pass It On My first few years in OA, I was working the Twelve Step program my own way. It didn’t work. I heard the suggestion to get a …
Fellowship Tools & Concepts Someone to Practice On I didn’t want advice. I didn’t want to go through another person to get to God. I had isolated to perfection—and then I lear…
Steps Cleaning Out the Closet My first sponsor pointed out that the promises of the program are clear: If we clean up the past (Steps Four through Nine) a…
Fellowship Sponsoring When I Give, I Get It took every ounce of courage I had to ask someone to be my sponsor. The first two people I asked had to refuse; they were …
Steps Facing It, Feeling It There it was. I had done the first three Steps with my sponsor and we both knew what was coming next. He knew it was going t…
Steps Take as Needed In our readings and in many other ways we are told, “Once we compulsive overeaters truly take the Third Step, we cannot fail…
Working the Program Can Do At my first OA meetings, I recognized myself in the shares of others. Defensiveness, excuses, blaming, rationalizing, self-l…
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