Farewell, Lifeline

I have been actively recovering in OA since 1986. I am lucky to live in an area with many meetings, but I have always supplemented meetings with readings from my subscription to Lifeline. The wisdom found in this little magazine has connected me with recovering OA members whom I never would have met and has helped me grow in so many ways. Lifeline has also given me wise nuggets to pass on to sponsees or at meetings.

Two specific Lifeline stories have impacted me the most. In “Raising the Standard” (February 1999, p. 16), the author gifted me with a visual image of my abstinence and my plan of eating as an anchor that keeps me safe and prevents me from crashing when life is stormy and the seas are tempestuous. My recovery ship bobs around in a limited area because I hold on to my abstinence and therefore do not experience the wild swings of emotions or behaviors that were a part of my disease.

I read “The Importance of Being Honest” (July 1993, pp. 8–9) early in my recovery, when I didn’t feel very good about who I was or how I interacted with people. (I’d always eaten my way through these feelings before.) The story said that if I wanted to have healthy self-esteem, I needed to practice estimable behaviors (or “esteem-able” as I like to think of them). Wow! I could envision what healthy, esteem-able behavior would look like, and I could use my program with guidance from my Higher Power to begin to put healthier behaviors into action.

Without Lifeline, I will still be able to continue growing in OA, but it will take more effort on my part. Lucky for me, I have stockpiled my old magazines. I can still read the wisdom from my fellows all over the world and through the ages because these messages of recovery never go out of date. If you haven’t saved up old copies, you can still order back issues from the OA bookstore!

Farewell, Lifeline. I will miss you!

— Kathy S., Connecticut USA