Low-Tech Outreach I am on my intergroup’s public information committee. We make flyers with a tear-off portion and give them to members to post on bulletin boards at supermarkets and libraries in their neighborhoods. If space is limited, we use business cards and sticky notes. A couple of months ago, I started sending OA advertisements every two weeks to my free local … Read More
Available to Everyone Here are a few ways I carry the message to other compulsive overeaters. I print out OA’s Courier newsletter and give copies to my health care practitioners. I let them know I’m available should one of their patients or clients want to learn more about OA. I tell close friends I’m happy to talk to anyone they know who wants … Read More
Radio-Active I was listening to a commentary about obesity on our local radio station. The commentator said one of the usual criticisms about people who are obese: “Why can’t they simply stop overeating?!” It made me upset enough to send in my own commentary, which was read aloud by one of the radio hosts the next day. Another person called in, … Read More
In the PI Flow Recently, I had the honor of working the OA booth at a local fair. The fair ran for many days, and it gave several intergroups the chance to reach out and help change the lives of strangers. Another OA member was working the booth with me, and I and recall her sharing the following: “Three years ago, I was wandering … Read More
Knowing about OA A doctor, a nutritionist, and a weight loss clinic gave me three opportunities to carry the OA message of recovery while maintaining the Traditions. What a gift. Several years ago, my nutritionist, who had not worked with anyone with food addiction prior to me, asked me to talk to a group of medical students as part of their nutrition curriculum. … Read More
Surrender the Crutch At first, I thought Step Six would be easy for me—of course, I want my defects removed! But just as it warns in OA Twelve and Twelve, Second Edition, this Step is a little more complicated: At first glance, Step Six seems easy. After all, who among us would not want to have all our defects miraculously removed, once we … Read More
Staying on Point Have you ever started a conversation with someone and from the beginning of the talk to the ending the purpose or focus or topic changed five or six times, whereby the end of the conversation was miles away from the subject that was initially discussed? Personally, this diversion frustrates me; however, it’s human nature. It happens to us all, and … Read More
Perfect Peace The Fifth Step: what a daunting Step it was for me as a newcomer (and still is today)! However, as the Big Book says, “If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome . . .” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 72). After having written my Fourth Step, I was hesitant to conduct the Fifth Step. However, since I … Read More
Empowering Discovery When I first came to OA thirty-three years ago, I was a bundle of resentments. I’m sure I resented almost everyone in my life, and my coping mechanism was to try to be nice to others so that they would feel bad and do what I wanted them to. But that never seemed to work for very long, so I … Read More
The Big Picture Decisions Our group considers itself free to make its own decisions, guided by a Higher Power. We don’t have to have certain values or particular ways of doing things just because some other groups do. No one can make us do things the way they think is right. We are free to do things the way we think is right. But … Read More