Unity Day Portions

Unity Day 2016 was a day to remember. We had three speakers, and the tone for the day was set when we read the quote on page 360 in For Today: “The only gift is a portion of thyself.”

The first speaker noted, “I finally gave up believing that skinny equals happy. There is a Higher Power out there if I plug into it. My journey is to be able to call people, feel free, and lose weight slowly . . . to me, unity means having a sponsor or someone to talk to every day.”

The second speaker emphasized, “With abstinence and the support of OA, I have the courage to live. I realize I am now much less afraid than I used to be.” This speaker’s recovery expanded to include participation in other Twelve Step programs and online meetings. He stated he met his true sponsor at an OA convention: “He was my drill sergeant.” After that, he himself began sponsoring. “Having two sponsees keeps me honest. I’ve noticed I am better able to live on life’s terms now. My sponsor has modeled for me the patience I need in dealing with others.”

The third speaker was introduced with a quote from page 82 in For Today. “Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.” She described her journey in overcoming negative thinking. “As a member of another Twelve Step program, I started being aware of my negative thinking, but never about food. I now call this period my ‘decades of denial.’ What brought me to OA was not a weight concern, but pain in my joints and body. I had the ‘A and A’ disease: Arrogance and Ambivalence.” This speaker began to ask herself, “How can I change my negative self-talk?” She found the solution for change in For Today on pages 148, 158, and 265. She realized, “I can make amends to myself. I’m beginning to learn how to take inventory with a lighter touch: less critical, more compassionate. I can now remind myself of things I do well. I’m trying to trade harsh self-talk for compassionate self-talk. I don’t want to deny what has happened, but I’m trying to find a more compassionate way of talking to myself.”

Unity Day was a day of inspiration for all of us. As we listened to and resonated with all three speakers, we were once again reminded: “The only gift is a portion of thyself.”

— Edited and reprinted from Out of the Cocoon newsletter, Milwaukee Area Intergroup, May/June 2016