Recovery Working the Program From Great Fall to Grateful I would like to tell you how I think the character, Humpty Dumpty, can be like some compulsive overeaters. Humpty Dumpty had been told not to get on that wall. It was slippery and dangerous. “No one can tell me what to do. I will keep climbing that wall; I will not stop. I’m in control. I’m Superman,” he told … Read More
Recovery Working the Program A Lot to Do in Sixty Seconds I see that I have been going through the motions, paying lip service to the program and making contact with HP in a superficial way. When I ask, “What is distracting me?” I am thankful for the awareness God gives me. The answer? “Nothing!” In this moment, I realize that what I have been labeling “worldly distractions” is actually me … Read More
Traditions Dual Addictions Q. Can people who use drugs or alcohol participate in Overeaters Anonymous meetings and pursue food abstinence? Is there a ban on this? A. If you are asking if someone can have recovery from food addiction while they are acting out behaviors of other addictions, I believe that through working the Twelve Steps with a sponsor to stop eating compulsively, they … Read More
Abstinence Mindful Every Day Thanks be to God and to practicing program one day at a time. I’m frequently reminded of the critical importance of remembering exactly where I came from. It is crucial for me to remember that being in active addiction really was that bad. With time, my memory can become fuzzy. It can encounter peculiar twists that try to convince me that it could never … Read More
Relapse Twelfth Step Within Kindred Spirit When we met, I said that I knew there was a reason, and perhaps this is it. Perhaps we may suffer from the same horrible disease, compulsive overeating. For most of my life, I didn’t know that, to me, food was an addiction. Certain foods are like heroin to me. It wasn’t until I went to a meeting that I … Read More
Gratitude Recovery My True Value Freedom from compulsion and excess weight is the treasure that those of us plagued by food addiction covet most! What does this freedom look like? A wise man said, “It’s a sparkle in the eye that exemplifies it.” Another source says it’s the genuine, natural smile on one’s face that whispers acceptance of others—after all, a smile is the universal … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Work-World Recovery Two years ago, I was hired to work as a workshop leader at a treatment and rehabilitation facility in California, so I travel there every other month. About a month ago, I was outside, walking along the coast, when it hit me hard: I have this opportunity only because OA changed my life and brought me into the world of recovery. … Read More
Tools & Concepts Thanks for Sharing I haven’t written for Lifeline in a while, but today life got in my way. At least food didn’t, eh? But it tried to. Yes, even with fifteen years of recovery, the thoughts still sometimes make a plausible case for indulging. The Big Book says, “We are without defense against the first drink” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 24), and … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery The Day’s Help My life has been changed by Step Eleven. My whole life, I’d been searching for connection with God and had a desire to do his will. (My Higher Power is God, but as you read this, fill in your name for your Higher Power and use the pronouns that work for you.) But I was unable to connect to God … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality Fresh and Vital While doing some writing about the “vital spiritual experience” described in the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th. ed., p. 27), I had a brand-new thought. I identified with the person being described: someone wanting very much to be free of the addiction that was making his life impossible, puzzled and despairing over why he couldn’t stop. For myself, I’d given … Read More
