One Main Reason

I volunteered to write Lifeline about OA’s Responsibility Pledge, but when I started thinking about my stories on this topic, I realized I don’t have any great anecdotes about saving anyone. So I told myself I was foolish for volunteering.

I generally mull things over before I do any writing, so I let a couple of days pass. Then I began to remember all the little things I’ve done over the years to let other people know that OA is around. None of them are very exciting, but all of them are things anyone can do.

I told my health care professionals about OA—my doctor, chiropractor, and gynecologist. I made sure that meetings were listed in the local paper. I put up posters in grocery stores. I started meetings and helped keep meetings going.

One of the most fun things I did was being listed as a meeting contact person and taking newcomer phone calls. Sometimes these people showed up at a meeting and sometimes they didn’t, but those phone calls never failed to help me put life and program into perspective. Words of understanding and love seemed to flow out of my mouth.

Now when I travel to Albuquerque four times a year for OA board meetings, I tell people I am on the board of an international organization. If people ask, I tell them it is Overeaters Anonymous. I am always willing to share that I lost 50 pounds (23 kg) and have kept it off for ten years.

I helped with a public information night several years ago. The turnout for the event was disappointing, but I try to remember that even if people don’t come, they have learned there is something called Overeaters Anonymous. Many OA speakers say they heard about OA and then waited months or years before they actually came and stayed. It’s important for me to remember that I can’t measure success in these efforts by how many people show up at meetings in the following two weeks.

I love the story about Bill W.’s first few months of attempting to help others get sober. He complained to someone that no one had gotten sober, and that person pointed out one important person who was sober—Bill. Therefore, I continue to do outreach work for one main reason— to help me maintain my abstinence. Nothing works as well to get me out of my own pity party as working with others.

It is my responsibility to make sure that the hand and heart of OA are available to those who share my compulsion. I take this responsibility seriously, and I am glad to be able to recommend this to others.

— Margie G.

Editor’s Note: OA’s 2016 Strategic Plan includes a focus on the Responsibility Pledge. Region Chairs and members of the Board of Trustees are contributing one article per issue on this theme.