Recovery Working the Program Promises Missed I enjoyed my August 2014 Lifeline very much but think the issue’s title could have been better. I am a huge fan of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, and credit my fourteen-plus years and more than 80 pounds (36 kg) of recovery to repeatedly working the Steps with my sponsor using the Big Book directions. I love all the promises … Read More
Steps Tools & Concepts The Powerless Problem I had a problem with my food and weight, which I’d tried most of my life to solve. With various calorie-controlled ways of eating and exercise regimes, I had periods of what seemed like success, followed by gaining weight, feeling worthless, and being uninterested in physical activity. As time went on, the periods of apparent success became shorter: from months, … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts No Secret Looking at my family photographs and reflecting on the last twelve years brings tears to my eyes. At my first OA meeting, I could barely hold my head up and say my name to pick up my twenty four-hour abstinence chip, which I still have. I was 43 years old, remarried, twice my normal body weight, and the mother of … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity An All-In Proposition “And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone . . . the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. . . . That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pp. 84–85). When I first came into OA, I … Read More
Relapse Slipping & Sliding A Slow Surrender I am powerless over compulsive overeating and abstinent since September 13, 2014, by the grace of God. I joined AA on March 19, 1988, and OA shortly thereafter. I try to practice unconditional love and abstain from abusing foods that induce cravings, especially fat, sugar, and salt. I promised long ago that once I had recovery, I would do all … Read More
How OA Changed My Life This Holiday, Frenzy-Free From October through December, I used to engage in an eating frenzy that appeared to have no end. I absolutely could not comprehend that a Higher Power of any kind would be interested in my food issues, and my feelings of unworthiness and shame continued unabated. I just endured the process, as if it was a project I had to … 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
Newcomers Gifts of Hope and Help When I was 4 or 5 years old, I went to an AA meeting with my father. The only thing I remember about it is that they were having cake and my father would not let me stay for some. As with many early memories, this one lay dormant for many years. In the late 70s, I read an advice … Read More
Higher Power Agnostic in the Lifeboat The first thing I ever identified with in the Big Book was the chapter “We Agnostics” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pp. 44–57). I loved everything about it and still do. I love that the title says “We.” I love how the chapter is compassionate and understanding and does not talk down to anyone. When I first read it, I felt … Read More
Relapse & Recovery All-In Abstinence Planning Lately, I have been comparing my OA journey to someone else who has decades of abstinence. I know through working the Steps that comparing myself to others is one of my shortcomings. I did not get abstinent at my first meeting, nor can I say, “I have not relapsed.” I want my story to be different, but I can’t change … Read More
