Ask-It Basket Alternative to “Abstinence” I object to the word “abstinence” in the OA pamphlet A Commitment to Abstinence. Alcoholics abstain from booze or they don’t. Overeaters cannot avoid eating (unless they go down the rabbit hole of anorexia or bulimia). I know you justify “abstinence” as refraining from overeating or other eating disorders. It sounds fake to me. Would OA as an organization consider … Read More
Abstinence Key Specifics In all my seventeen years in OA, I’ve regarded “abstinence” as an ambiguous term—and I’ve blamed that ambiguity for my relapses. Focusing on ambiguity made it easy for me to erode my abstinence. My epiphany occurred when my sponsor, who has forty-two years of abstinence, said, “Abstinence doesn’t have to be ambiguous.” That gave me pause for thought. The pause … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Love and Light When I was 60 years old and abstinent for six months, I had overwhelming feelings. I felt as if I were going crazy. How did people do this without medication? As time went on, I became more desperate, going to two or three meetings a day, meditating, doing Step work, and making outreach calls. Nothing gave me the peace I … Read More