Recovery Routine

I work my program every day by doing a morning routine. First, I say the first three Steps. Then I say program prayers: the Serenity Prayer, the Third Step prayer, the Seventh Step prayer, and a shortened version of the Eleventh Step prayer. Then I say a prayer from my religious tradition for me and everyone I’m having trouble with, and I ask HP to help everyone on my list. (All of this is like a mantra that helps me meditate.) Then I read from For Today, Voices of Recovery, and another book about serenity. Next, I say a peace prayer for the day of the week. When I take time to do all this, my days go better.

Before OA, my life was full of decisions to make, roadblocks that kept me from getting what I wanted, and negative surprises. I worked hard just to get through the day. Decisions were difficult—even impossible. Nothing seemed to go my way (until something did, but I didn’t notice). I was always looking for what was wrong and trying to fix it, and always trying to get everyone else to do it my way. When things didn’t work out, which was most of the time, I ate. When my weight got too high, I’d go on a diet, lose some weight, feel like a success for a minute, go off the diet, gain it all back plus more, and feel like a failure. It was a vicious cycle I could not break on my own.

I am so grateful to have found OA, the Steps, the Traditions, the Concepts, and the way of life that is based on them. Now, I have HP to carry me through anything. Decisions are turned over to HP and magically get resolved, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Life is still full of decisions and challenges, but I look forward to each one because I don’t have to do it alone. I have support through the Fellowship of OA, my sponsor, my friends, my husband, and my HP. Even now, on a long vacation away from my usual meetings, I have time to read OA literature, including Lifeline online and in print, and write. I’m so grateful for support via email, texting, and the Internet.

Thank you, OA, for saving my life and giving me a life. I’ve been in OA for more than twenty-seven years, abstinent and maintaining a healthy body weight—a true miracle.

— M.H., Santa Cruz, California USA