How OA Changed My Life Recovery Fresh in My Mind Last January, I celebrated OA’s 59th birthday, my 76th birthday, and two years of continuous abstinence. I went to my first meeting with a couple of buddies who were already in OA. I was beat and knew I needed a Twelve Step program to start crawling my way out of the abyss of compulsive overeating. I knew I was powerless … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery Unboxing My Disease I’ve been in OA for almost a decade, and I’ve had various levels of recovery. In the last few years, I entered in the deepest, darkest relapse I’d ever experienced. The only thing I can say I did right was to keep coming back. I’ve recently been going through old boxes that have been undisturbed for ten years. They’re all labeled … Read More
Fellowship Retreats Revitalize Renewal, revival, resurgence: these are all emotions I experienced this weekend at the annual retreat sponsored by my intergroup. It was held at the foot of Mount Beacon, a tranquil place of beauty in the Hudson Valley of Upstate New York. The bright, sunny facility had numerous comfortable rooms where we met for breakout sessions and meditations. The beautiful grounds … Read More
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts A Grateful Goodbye My first sponsor, M., passed away last month. He was one of the first people I met in OA, but it was a year before he became my sponsor. He was one of the few men I’d met and one of very few OA members who identified as a sponsor. I wrote down his number, but at the time, he … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Real Magic I am contemplating the last workbook question of the Twelfth Step: “What is the message I am living?” (The Twelve Step Workbook of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 107). My mind ventures back several months, when a spark inside my soul led me to put these Twelve Steps to the test. Would the promises of the Step Principles really materialize … Read More
Tools & Concepts Writing Work the Workbook Prior to May 1979, I was unhappy, overweight, and miserable. I ate to console myself, and things got worse with every binge. The vicious cycle was a major part of my life, and I saw no way out. Fast-forward thirty-six years, and I have been blessed with many miracles. Abstinence has become the most important thing in my life, and I … Read More
Higher Power New-Mother Energy When I came to OA, I was immediately attracted to the God language and knew this was the path for me because I am a rabbi and God is my business. But I struggled to get abstinent. Step One was easy, Step Two was a given, and I thought Step Three should’ve been also. My sponsor often said, “You’re a … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Workshop Win We, eight compulsive overeaters and ordinary OA members, recently completed a sixteen-week workshop using the Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Step Workshop and Study Guide. We found the process so transformative in our lives and recovery that we want to share our extraordinary experience. We hope everyone finds the strength and profound intimate connection we found, for we now believe the saying … Read More
Tools & Concepts Writing Feeling Intentional I write this as the food is calling to me.” This quote from page 13 of A New Beginning: Stories of Recovery from Relapse strikes me as very intentional. The author has made a choice to pick up the pen instead of the fork. The story, “Caring for Myself,” first shares gratitude, then acknowledges the author’s need to do their … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Gateway to Freedom I began OA at age 28 after attempting suicide; I’d gained 3 pounds (1.5 kg) after a bulimic episode, peaking at 107 pounds (49 kg). I was nuts; absolutely lost in the mental illness of food preoccupation and self-obsession. I began OA that next day and never left the rooms, our community, and my life of recovery. What I noticed when … Read More