In 1985, it took a strong, concerted effort to get World Service Business Conference to accept some Twelfth Step Within suggestions from a group of women from Region Two. These members fought for five years for something they believed in: the need to “carry the message to those already in program,” to members who were still struggling, maybe people whose …

I started attending a Monday night OA meeting but found myself struggling with abstinence. A weekly meeting didn’t seem to be enough. Then I found a meeting that met Monday through Friday at 7 a.m., 22 miles (35 km) from my home, and I started traveling to these daily meetings. I’ve learned that if you want continuous recovery from any …

My life has been changed by Step Eleven. My whole life, I’d been searching for connection with God and had a desire to do his will. (My Higher Power is God, but as you read this, fill in your name for your Higher Power and use the pronouns that work for you.) But I was unable to connect to God …

When I was 16, I left the religion of my family and began a deep search for meaning. I thought I’d found my answer and settled into complacent spirituality until the age of 35, when I came into OA. As I began to understand the Steps and work them, I approached Step Three with confidence. I had already investigated my …

Coming back to OA for the third time in over thirty years, I’m aware that one of the main things that gets in the way of my recovery is perfectionism. At times, my lack of “being perfect” can lead me to want to give up. What helps me accept myself as I am is remembering that only my Higher Power …

It works if you work it. I’m writing because I’ve been listening and talking to OA members who have been around program for less time than me but have expressed disillusionment; I’ve heard concerns and criticisms about OA, the recovery of our members, and the effectiveness of the program. Comments have gone something like this: I don’t know if OA …

I am a returning member, back in OA after many relapses over the past fourteen years. Earlier this year, after almost a year of abstinent recovery and losing two thirds of the weight I need to lose for my health, I began experiencing painful and disturbing digestive symptoms. It took months for doctors to diagnose the trouble, and in the …

I am just coming back from a bingeing relapse that started with me eating two pints of ice cream as an appetizer. I went out searching for a 24-hour grocery store at 4 o’clock in the morning on Christmas Eve to buy ice cream. I ended up at a gas station in an area so crime-ridden that there was an …

Over the years, I’ve heard people in our Fellowship speak about having “choices” when it comes to food and eating: “the choice to eat healthy or not” or “the choice of bingeing or not.” While this might be true for some, I feel compelled to speak to those for whom the notion of having choices does not apply. I know …

A couple of months ago, I was out walking my dogs when I received a call from one of the many names in my contacts list to which I’d given the last name only as “OA.” I answered and was happy to chat with an OA fellow whom I’d met several years earlier in the town where I’d first attended …