How OA Changed My Life All the Difference I have been in program for nine months. I was given the gift of abstinence on the day I set foot in my first meeting, October 15, 2015, but this is probably because I waited so long (years) to obey the prompt to actually go to a meeting. I knew no one in OA, but from the name, I knew … Read More
Recovery Trust Fund Before OA, my life was a constant struggle. It was me against the world, and I couldn’t lower my defenses, or I’d be eaten alive. It was very stressful and tiring. Lack of trust was one of my biggest problems. I grew up in a family in which anything you said could be used against you. I craved trust and … Read More
Recovery Real Feeling Before OA, I was falsely cheerful. I always appeared put-together and acted like everything was great. I never let anyone see me feeling sad, angry, or low energy. At my very first meeting someone shared about a hard time she was having—she even cried. I was repulsed, but others were nodding, and after the meeting she got hugs and support … Read More
How OA Changed My Life My Best Me For half my life, I felt like some kind of awful, monstrous presence—peculiar, pessimistic, and pathetic. I had a dark secret that even I didn’t know about, and almost every action I took was viewed as negative. At home, I was a scapegoat, and at school, I was a crybaby; but wherever I was, I always felt like something from … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery The Same Solution It is easy for me to lose sight of the gifts OA and abstinence have given me. I have been abstinent for three and a half years. I lost about 50 pounds (23 kg), and I have maintained a healthy body weight for two and a half years. Before OA, I hadn’t been a healthy body weight since childhood. By … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality Cold Comfort Enthusiasm, the quality of being filled with my Higher Power’s presence, reminds me that I always have a choice. A recent deep freeze in my part of the United States seemed to limit my choices; I couldn’t get my truck out of a snowbank to get to my weekly face-to-face OA meeting. Glumly, I stared out at the frozen landscape, … Read More
Recovery Gift of Empathy I have gained many gifts from the OA program and recently realized a new one: empathy. I’m not sure I ever had true empathy. I know my eating behaviors made me very selfish. I was nice and respectful to people, but only if there was something in it for me, such as keeping my job, being liked, receiving thanks, or being perceived … Read More
Service Service Call The telephone is the hardest Tool for me to use. I have stubbornly resisted this Tool during all my ten years in program. Even in my teenage years, I did not like answering calls from my girlfriends. Whoever heard of a teenage girl who doesn’t like to talk with friends on the phone? My disease causes me to feel inadequate, … Read More
Recovery Get Out There Stand-up comedians tell jokes about the fat guy in a tiny swimsuit at the beach or park. But a powerful lesson exists there. You just have to look hard to see it. That heavy guy is having fun with his friends and family. He’s getting some sun and exercise, and he doesn’t care about your opinion regarding his appearance or … Read More
Atheists & Agnostics Pathway to Salvation I don’t consider myself a religious person. Although recovery has reconnected me in some ways to the religion of my youth, it does not define my concept of Higher Power. Too often a physical manifestation of Higher Power eludes me. As a child I yearned for the simple belief depicted in the church where I attended a youth program—a gentle … Read More