Recovery Rescue Work By admin Posted on January 1, 2017 4 min read 3 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest Share on Linkedin Share on Tumblr In my professional life, I am a medical doctor with a PhD. Don’t ask me how I managed—I don’t know how, considering all the emotional and spiritual difficulties I carried with 115 kg (254 lbs) on my body. Perhaps my profession was the only thing I thought I could be good at, so I worked a lot and published many scientific papers. When I came to OA, I stopped writing papers. I already had a busy life and desperately needed to invest in my program. Also, I could not pass my specialist test, and I had already given up on my professional dreams. I had stopped doing major surgery because my lungs could not stand the air-conditioning any longer. In OA, I started rescuing each piece of my professional life that the disease had destroyed. I’d always had a hard time admitting I could be good at what I did. Even when I was invited to teach at professional conferences, I had a lot of difficulty (I thought people called me to teach because they were friends and they pitied me). Program work helped me with the difficult tasks of loving myself and allowing myself to be loved. Now, I can deal with rejection. I can also accept that I am called to teach and that I’m a capable professional and people like my classes. I have hung my Masters and PhD. degrees on my office wall because my dear sponsor encouraged me to validate my professional achievements. Now that I have returned to teaching, I am going to write scientific papers again. All these miracles began when I arrived at these doors. Before, I had always sought approval from bosses, but now I understand what an old teacher told me: Don’t wait for others to value you, try to appreciate yourself. In OA, I can understand these words. When I was compulsively eating, I gave up my dream of passing the specialist test. OA gave me the courage and emotional and spiritual conditioning to pass this test, an achievement beyond my wildest dreams. I want to continue to rescue my professional life. OA gave me 44 kg (97 lbs) of physical recovery, but every day I can see other gifts too. When I am in gratitude, I remember how OA changed my life. —Dora P., Brazil
