Right Sized I’m a relapse survivor. I was in OA for about five years in the 1980s. Though I was in a formal religious system, I had no personal HP, so it should come as no surprise that I never achieved any long-term abstinence or serenity. I was using OA as a diet club. Being a compulsive reader, I collected all the OA … Read More
Language of Unity A number of years ago, my intergroup passed a motion supporting our belief that while meeting formats may differ, there is but one Overeaters Anonymous. Over the last few months, we had discussed as a group the “language of unity.” We agreed that what we call ourselves and each other can serve to unite or divide us. One of OA’s … Read More
Meeting Between Meetings Thanks to Lifeline I have something to read when I don’t have enough to do and would otherwise eat. I can sit down after a long day and relax with a Lifeline magazine. Reading Lifeline inspires me, and it’s a way to get a meeting in between meetings, like having open sharing, only more organized and with a theme. It … Read More
Tooling through Recovery Please keep stepping. I am following you, watching. Please keep serving. I am needing you, calling. Please keep sharing. I am learning from you, listening. Please keep praying. I am kneeling with you, awakening. Please keep reading. I am quoting you, speaking. Please keep confiding. I am counting on you, protecting. Please keep planning. I am writing with you, abstaining. … Read More
Uplifting Thoughts I’m grateful to be abstinent, by the grace of God and the power of the Twelve Steps, for twenty-one years and five months. I’ve lost about 55 pounds (25 kg), and I’m blessed to be at goal weight. Reading Lifeline expands my recovery and helps me see my recovery from a different perspective. Sometimes, I get stuck in my self-centered thinking, … Read More
Recharging with a Good Read I carry Lifeline with me to medical appointments. I get so much out of the stories; I feel relaxed and don’t notice the time. I get into the stories and keep my mind off the other people in the room. I used to think about what the doctor’s staff should or shouldn’t do. Reading about recovery keeps me out of … Read More
Sharing on Paper When I came into OA in the mid-1970s, sponsors gave their sponsees assignments or topics to write about. They encouraged sponsees to read at meetings to help the newcomer open up and share in front of the group. Today if we write something—trace it, face it, and erase it—and our sponsors ask us to share it, why not submit it … Read More
Self-Sustaining Abstinence Did you know that OA exists in Barillas, Guatemala? I am writing to you from a small, rural village outside of the town. Today is Thanksgiving Day in America. My heart is full of gratitude, and my belly is not stuffed from overeating holiday treats! My two teens, my husband, and I have spent the last four days with the … Read More
Truly a Gift My first sponsor was a temporary sponsor, and as a newcomer, I felt funny talking to a stranger about my issues with food. I didn’t want a sponsor, but he was there for me. I started emailing him my meal plan. I read articles from Lifeline magazine and then wrote to my temporary sponsor. I was obsessed with everything food, even … Read More
What If At a recent OA business meeting, our discussion revolved around member retention: how can we keep newcomers and other members coming back? After the meeting, a person near me said, “What if . . . what if everyone here took on one more sponsee?” What if? What if? This churned in my mind for over a week as I thought … Read More
