Fitness Witness

The Big Book says we get to keep what we have “so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 85). Doing my spiritual exercises stands between me and that first bite!

I reached my maintenance weight, having released 125 pounds (57 kg), after years of struggling with food, weight, body size, and life in general. In OA, I found not only a way to release the weight but also a way to create a plan for how to live my life today. Early on, I heard someone say, “The Tools stabilize me, and the Steps transform me.” Using the Tools daily keeps me spiritually fit and tuned in to my Higher Power.

I have a plan of eating. I write it down at night, give it to God, and in the morning, I commit it to my sponsor. Then I’m done with my food. It is exactly enough.

I am blessed with the gift of sponsorship. I talk to my sponsor regularly, and my sponsees talk to me. We are all connected in a common solution. I am deeply grateful for the guidance I get from my sponsor. And I am grateful I can give it away.

Meetings are where I get to be with my people. I get to hear them share and talk about how they do life without compulsively using food.

Telephone calls are also essential to my program. I make at least three outreach calls a day to stay connected to other people who are walking this path of recovery. Calls don’t have to be long and time-consuming, and they make such a difference in how I do each day.

I am so grateful for the literature. I especially love how the Big Book is an instruction manual for abstinence and life. The Big Book tells me how to work the Steps and what I can expect if I do. It tells me how and what to pray and how to interact with people. I need its stories to help me remember the pain and desperation of addiction and the surrender and hope of recovery.

Each day in my writing time, I give thanks for the day before as I recount it, and I give thanks for the current day as I describe it.

I do service. I reach out to others, help at meetings, and give rides. I am promised “a life of sane and happy usefulness” (The Tools of Recovery, p. 7). I am a self centered addict who needs to get out of myself. Service allows me to do that.

And I practice anonymity. I don’t share who said what in a meeting or on outreach calls. I don’t consider myself to be any better or any worse than anyone else. We are all equal.

Ours is a program of living happy, joyous, and free. This abstinence and recovery is a beautiful, precious gift. My job is to take care of it and use the Tools to be spiritually fit today. Thank you, God!

— Sue E., Mesa, Arizona USA