Recovery Working the Program Forecast: Recovery My moods and emotions definitely relate to the weather report. Sometimes I have poor visibility around my food plan. Other times, I see through partly cloudy skies. Widespread wind currents can blow me into forgetting I have a fatal disease and blur the hours ahead. Hazard reports of drifting snow, slippery ice, and strong blowing rain can take over any … Read More
Abstinence Share It Compelling Benefits I have been reading Lifeline for years and have loved many articles, but this is the first time I felt compelled to respond to an article. I really loved “You Just Might Be” (February 2019), which lists off many indicators, in a humorous way, to tell if you’re abstinent or not. I could relate so much! The first time I … Read More
Abstinence You Just Might Be Half my family is from a very small town in Kentucky, and redneck jokes are often shared at family events, no matter how many times I roll my eyes in protest. Recently, during one of my daily conversations with my sponsor (the kind you think will be simple but turn out to be amazing) I shared about a mini-vacation from … Read More
Recovery Relationships Laugh In It’s such a blessing to laugh at myself, to see humor in the midst of misery. There’s so much laughter in the rooms, laughter at how ridiculous we are in the disease. The laughter is healing. It connects us—all of us, we all relate. We relate and we laugh and we know we’re not alone in these experiences, these thoughts, … Read More
Recovery Relationships Light in Real Life First, I had to get past the mourning stage. I arrived at OA grieving the loss of my best friend, lover, and confidante—my go-to for any emotional relationship. Compulsive overeating had replaced many important relationships in my life, leaving me in a turbulent, one-sided, love-hate situation. OA was gentle in guiding me to a healthier state of mind, putting food … Read More
Share It A Sense of Humor I just wanted to let you know that the “Dogust” 2017 issue and the theme “Let’s Share a Laugh” are great. I was looking for some humor in OA and there it was! I really liked all the selections. I also liked the section on pets! Yay for doing something a little different, and with a sense of humor. — … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Reel Comedy “Come on in! We’ve been waiting for you!” That’s what I heard as I walked through the doors of an OA meeting in 2015. Two ladies were sitting in the meeting room, both long timers. One of them had moved to our small coastal town a year ago, found no OA meetings, and decided to start one. I struggled to … Read More
Tools & Concepts Close Enough At the end of our meetings, our group leader usually says, “After a moment of silence for compulsive overeaters who are still suffering, please join me in the OA Promise.” But one night, it came out like this: “After a moment of suffering for compulsive overeaters who are still silent . . .” It felt good to laugh together at … Read More
Fellowship Overgreeters Anonymous My first region convention was quite an adventure. I was nervous and apprehensive but knew I needed to volunteer for service, so I volunteered to be a greeter for the first evening. My thought process was that it would be hard to mess up that job. I reported on time for my service and found I was partnered with a … Read More