Recovery Relationships Apply Love “What we do have to offer is . . . a Fellowship in which we find and share the healing power of love” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 1). I recently shared my experience, strength, and hope regarding responding to someone who pushes my buttons. I shared how I literally apply love. When … Read More
Gratitude Recovery Three Sayings I get to write this article. I am so grateful I learned this affirmation early in my recovery. It started with a phone call to my sponsor. When I complained that I had to go to work, she said, “You get to work.” When I told her I had to do laundry, go to the bank, clean the house, or … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Season’s Greetings from Program Happy, joyous, and free is what we can be in this Twelve Step program. Attitude change—the only person we focus on changing is ourselves. Prayer is suggested as a form of meditation—a strong component of the Eleventh Step. Problems begin to lose the magnitude they once had (when we do the necessary Step work). You need never be alone again—we … Read More
Traditions Responsible Acceptance At first, the Traditions had little meaning to me. At the place and time I attended meetings, the Traditions were not emphasized, so I pretty much ignored them. Oh, sure, I finally saw that the Traditions kept groups functioning, but they still didn’t mean much to me personally. My responsibility seemed to be the Steps. When I started to wake up … Read More
Keep Coming Back Relapse Walking Through the Feelings I joined OA about five years ago, when I’d lost all hope of knowing happiness or having a purpose. I had been in program twenty-five years earlier, but the lessons learned had all but faded away. I did remember, however, that I had lost weight and felt a sense of happiness, and I wanted that feeling to return. My second … Read More