Step 7: Right Actions I’ve been reading and studying Steps Six and Seven in the past weeks. I’ve become particularly watchful and aware of my major character defects, and I truly believe I should take these Steps daily in order to keep working toward what Higher Power wants for me. Recently, I was in the company of a colleague whom I admire and like; … Read More
Step 6: Wishy-Washy I recently had to change out my dishwasher. That doesn’t seem like a big thing, but I put it off as long as I could. I used duct tape for months to keep the front panel on. Even after I needed extra rinses to get the dishes clean, I still took a couple of weeks to order a new dishwasher. … Read More
Step 5: Seeing My Part When I arrived in OA, I was full of anger, resentment, blame, guilt, and a lot of other negative emotions. When someone did a “wrong” to me, it was his or her fault and never mine. Everything that happened to me was not my fault. Life wasn’t good to me; I was always the innocent person being hurt. When I … Read More
Step 4: Searching Out Shame In OA, we rely strongly on AA literature, and we are truly blessed to have it. I am infinitely grateful to AA and its founders and members. I do find, however, one critical difference between alcoholism and food addiction that, once addressed, finally gave me the freedom of back-to-back abstinence that eluded me for decades. Members of AA can walk … Read More
Step 3: Power Surge At my home meeting, a member shared a story about wanting a specific food and not being able to stop herself from going to buy it. While she was putting on her coat, she said a prayer. “God, if you want me to not eat this, you’re going to have to help me.” When she arrived at the shop, there … Read More
Step 2: Loving Restoration When I heard Step Two read aloud at meetings, it used to bother me. “Restored to sanity?” I thought disbelievingly. “I can’t point to a time when I ever was sane! What sanity is there to restore me to?” Indeed, I behaved very insanely before I came into program, which was ten years ago when I was 13 pounds (6 … Read More
Dodging Curveballs When life throws me a curveball, I work the Twelve Steps around it. Today is a fitting example. I realized a large part of my almost-completed school project was missing. Somehow the last four and a half hours of work had disappeared! With final exams looming, my eyes welled up with tears. Nothing anyone could offer was a consolation. In … Read More
Step 1: Always a Beginner When I came into OA, I met a longtimer I particularly admired. She was slender and energetic. She shared wisdom and love with everyone in the rooms and had an irresistible sparkle about her. When we passed around the phone list, though, she did something that confused me. In the “Comments” column, she wrote, “Always a beginner!” Why on earth, … Read More