To Ask Humility has been a challenge for me. In the past, I think my focus was on feeling humble; I would try ways to make myself feel humble. I would change my facial expression, body language, and words to control myself into feeling humble. Maybe I was trying to control others, so that they would see me as humble. I’ve had … Read More
Practicing Attraction Tradition Eleven: Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television, and other public media of communication. Tradition Eleven encourages us to publicize our program without promoting it. We can use various forms of media to get the word out: billboards, internet, TV, and … Read More
Moment by Moment Step Eleven: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Recently, I found myself in a place of fear, and my gut reaction is to want to control the world around me to feel safe. My … Read More
Acceptance Without Issue During any political election, I am especially thankful for OA’s Tradition Ten: “Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues.” I know I can go to a meeting and no one will talk about the candidates or the issues. I am very aware that some members are strongly supporting a policy that is different than mine. At other occasions outside … Read More
Saying the Words Step Ten: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. Most days, I take personal inventory at the end of the day. It helps me sleep. I inventory fears, resentments, and stressful thoughts and beliefs. Wrongs seem to stem from those. I also list gratitudes, but not the things I think I should be grateful for. … Read More
Imagine If Tradtion Nine: OA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. Tradition Nine is kind of buried, and it seems like one of those boring maxims about how we set up shop. Yeah, yeah, so we can have an intergroup and world service, isn’t that special . . … Read More
Skye’s No-Limit Step Nine: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. As a compulsive eater, I need to ask my Higher Power to guide every aspect of my life. The littlest thing can easily tip me off-balance. Lately, my home renovations resulted in impulsive online purchases. I’ve been asking God for … Read More
Amending Fear and Shame Step Eight: Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. For so long, I’ve felt like I lived on an island inside a stone fortress. I lived this way because I believed that people wouldn’t like me and would eventually try to harm me. I hid my feelings, actions, and … Read More
Priceless Peace Before I was halfway through my Ninth Step, I experienced, as the Big Book promises, a new freedom I’d never dreamed was possible: “Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th. ed., p. 84). I was free from the fear of financial insecurity. The feeling was new and odd. Much of my life had been … Read More
Stepping to Freedom Entering the rooms of OA nearly three decades ago, I anticipated that I’d be given a diet based on restriction and deprivation. I never dreamed I’d be given a life-enriching recovery program and the freedoms in each of OA’s Twelve Steps: Step One. Admission of my powerlessness means freedom from my mental obsession with food, allowing expanded space in my … Read More