How Far I’ve Come

I’ve come from being a screaming, hitting mother to a calm, effective grandmother.

From a yo-yoing binger and dieter to an abstinent maintainer. From an insecure, scared victim to a confident leader and performer. From someone who didn’t know how to say no, to someone who says yes when the service will benefit me and others. From a doubter to a faithful, faith-filled member. From one who saw everyone else as better than me, to a person who feels equal to others.

To maintain these physical, emotional, social, and spiritual components of recovery, I continue to work my program: keeping in touch with my sponsor, sticking to my plan of eating, making phone calls, doing service, reading program literature, and sponsoring.

Sometimes I don’t understand why everyone who is overweight doesn’t come running to OA, but that is really none of my business. I keep trying to do what’s best for me and trying to be an attraction, even if have to learn to let go of what others are doing or not doing about their own health and sanity.

— Edited and reprinted from The Northern Light newsletter, Anchorage Area Intergroup, January/February 2012