Abstinence Other People’s Programs I entered OA in the fall of 2008, miserable, steeped in my addiction, and knowing there was nothing I could do about it. At my first meeting, I was convinced OA was not going to work, but I was wrong about that. It did work, and I have been abstinent since 2010. As a consequence of my abstinence, my body … Read More
Spirituality Accepting All Bill W., co-founder of AA, said, “We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 17). When I first came to OA, at 5 feet tall (152 cm) and 206 pounds (93 kg), I was 80 pounds (36 kg) overweight. … Read More
Higher Power Run to God Life’s problems and recovery—I love putting these two concepts together because it means I can let go of problems instead of wrapping my life around them and getting stuck. Recovery is about taking the action needed to experience serenity. Recovery gets me unstuck! I find such freedom in the program, such peace—and then, yikes! A problem hits me in the … Read More
Recovery Pot of Gold If it weren’t for OA, I wouldn’t be able to see. I’m not blind, but the fog of compulsive overeating blinded me. By maintaining abstinence and working the Steps, the fog was lifted, and I began to see the world as it is. I began to see color. Recovery gave me the ability to pursue my childhood dream of learning … Read More
Steps Step 6: Wishy-Washy I recently had to change out my dishwasher. That doesn’t seem like a big thing, but I put it off as long as I could. I used duct tape for months to keep the front panel on. Even after I needed extra rinses to get the dishes clean, I still took a couple of weeks to order a new dishwasher. … Read More
Service The Difference That Satisfies Sometimes it’s quite hard to see the difference between a plan of eating, which says what I’m going to eat and in what quantity, and a diet, which also says what I’m going to eat and in what quantity. For me, the difference is about purpose and how I feel about it. In the old days, the diets I went … Read More
Recovery Normal Freedom When I was in the clutches of my disease, I felt so defeated that I began preparing myself for life as an overweight woman. I was only 18 and had been unsuccessfully fighting my disease since age 10. I rationalized that maybe living out my life in a fat body wouldn’t be so bad. I figured I was just meant … Read More
Recovery Finally Home I am 62 years old and a recovering anorexic and bulimic. After suffering from this disease since the age of 15, I reached my final bottom on June 2, 2014, and walked into an OA meeting in Warwick, New York. No one at the meeting looked like me. I immediately said, “They are judging me,” when in fact, I was doing the judging. Then … Read More
How OA Changed My Life The Dress Fits When I read “My Favorite Color” in the July 2015 Lifeline, my heart lifted. I too want to share the joy of living and the freedom that I have found in OA. In a few months, my oldest granddaughter will marry. Rather than spending months fretting over what to wear to the wedding, I knew immediately what I will wear: … Read More
How OA Changed My Life One Day at a Time After some years in another recovery program, I discovered I had substituted food for the alcohol I was no longer drinking. From childhood I had been using food for comfort and as a cushion against the discomforts of the world. I was a heavy child and lost weight just before entering high school. In my teen years I was distracted … Read More