Steps Traditions Principle Focus This morning, I picked up my OA Twelve and Twelve to read Tradition One because I needed help with a challenging situation at work. I know how well Tradition One works to keep meetings strong and united, and I needed help working as a team with a colleague. When a conflict or difference of opinion comes up, “Tradition One guides … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Open Commitment Without a commitment to unity, OA would be a diet and calories club. Everyone would follow the food plan of the most convincing or loudest member. There would be no world service, so groups would only be supported locally. Literature would not be developed and sourced from a central body, and groups would have no reason to meet and reach a … Read More
Traditions Service and Belonging Our First Tradition states, “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.” To be part of this whole, to belong, my piece of the puzzle is service. The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous states: “We need daily opportunities to be of service to other compulsive overeaters, opportunities which the OA group provides” (p. … Read More
Traditions Remarkable Unity We all have heard the ancient saying that a house divided cannot stand. I see this happening throughout the world today; division seems to be a preferred way of life, though it seldom brings desired results. In OA, we seek unity. Unity does not mean conformity. Through practicing the concept of unity, I have learned patience and openness; differences among … Read More
Traditions Always Rewarded Unity plays a role for me in going to any length to recover. My sponsor told me to attend OA events, and not only was it good for my program, but also it was a service to support all the OA members who organized the event and all the others who attended. So often I need to make attendance a … Read More
Traditions Building Balance For me, the beauty of unity is realizing I’m not alone in this disease of compulsive eating. I never knew that others had the same beast inside, compelling them to eat everything in sight—I felt like a freak because of it, a freak inside and out, my heavy body an outward manifestation of the obsession within. Just knowing I’m not … Read More
Traditions Course to Consensus We may be a group of abstinent and recovering compulsive overeaters, but our individual defects seem to be quick to surface when important decisions need to be made, especially decisions that affect our group and meeting format. Thank goodness we have the Traditions to guide us. “Our common welfare should come first,” but Tradition One is hard to follow sometimes … Read More
Fellowship Unity Day Symbol of Support This is my third Unity Day, and I’ve been in OA three years. I attend at least two meetings a week, and Unity Day adds a good boost to my program. Weekly meetings can become routine, but there is something powerful about being in a larger group, knowing that OA members the world over are joining hands at the same … Read More
Traditions Get Together I had a wonderful experience with some fellow OA members recently. We showed up at our meeting place and could not get in. The door had a timer lock with no key, and it did not open. How is this wonderful? I’m getting to that. We waited ten minutes after the meeting start time, then decided to head to a … Read More
Unity Day Protecting the Gift On the last Saturday in February, just before 2:30 p.m. EST, a group of OA intergroup members and guests formed a circle. One by one we turned to the person on our right, saying their name and “I put my hand in yours.” When we completed the circle—at 2:30 p.m. on the dot—we had a moment of silence and then … Read More