Connecting to Recovery

Q.
How can I feel hopeful about recovery when folks at the meetings I attend have been going to meetings for seven, ten, even twelve years, but still haven’t got thirty days of food sobriety—abstinence—under their belts? I need to see abstinence at work.

A.
Actually your question feels less like an inquiry, more like an expression of your desire for support.

Right now, in my home meetings, the majority of attending members are abstinent and available to sponsor. But that was not always the case. We have focused our meetings on timed shares about how we are using the Twelve Steps to make progress in our lives on all fronts: emotional, spiritual, and physical. That helped. There are several meeting formats available at oa.org/documents under “Meeting Formats,” and using these can help your meeting focus on recovery.

I hear in your note a great desire for personal recovery. You can focus on that and then give it away. Recovery itself is contagious. One way to hear recovery, if you feel you’re not hearing it at your current meeting, is to participate in phone and video meetings. You can find a bunch of them on oa.org at Find a Meeting by clicking Telephone, Online, or Non-Real-Time meetings.

Talk with your sponsor about how to bring recovery to your meeting. If you do not have a sponsor, Region One offers connections to virtual sponsors throughout the region, and other regions and intergroups may offer a similar service. I currently have two virtual sponsees—it works great! To sign up in Region One, visit oaregion1.org/sponsorship.

I have listed just a few ways that I hope can connect you to recovery. Most of all, please know that you do not have to do this alone. Our strength comes from having a shared problem with a shared solution. There is a world of caring and connection open to you in OA. Please continue to reach for your recovery!

— Members of the Board of Trustees provide answers to Ask-It Basket questions