Service Tools & Concepts Many Ways to Serve There are so many ways to give service in OA and pay forward all we have so freely received. Not all forms of service require years of commitment or abstinence. Will service make you abstinent? No, unfortunately, it is not a magic cure. But it is one of the Tools you can use to work the Steps. Members can give … Read More
Fellowship Courage and Magic I love OA retreats and workshops. I want to tell my OA fellows to jump in, don’t hesitate, make the commitment, and just go! I sometimes hesitate, but once I’ve gotten up the courage to commit to a retreat, magic happens! I show up and participate, just as I do in my OA recovery. I connect with people like me … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts Don’t Disappear Last year, I reflected on whether I should run for another term as intergroup chair. Because of work and family commitments, I felt I was not as effective in the last term as I could have been. It was the second time I had served as an intergroup chair in my twenty-five years in OA. I wondered if I should … Read More
Traditions Always Rewarded Unity plays a role for me in going to any length to recover. My sponsor told me to attend OA events, and not only was it good for my program, but also it was a service to support all the OA members who organized the event and all the others who attended. So often I need to make attendance a … Read More
Responsibility Pledge A Hand Up When I reflect on my life before I embraced recovery in Overeaters Anonymous, I can only describe it as a vast, dark, dry, soulless wasteland. My old life ended on June 9, 2009, the day of my second entry into Overeaters Anonymous. I was immediately abstinent and this time (one day at a time) it “took.” I’m not sure why . … Read More
Service Remember Small Towns By the grace of God and the miracle of Overeaters Anonymous, I currently have over thirteen years of continuous abstinence and have maintained a 150-pound (68 kg) release. Over two years ago, I was blessed to run for regional representative for my intergroup. So many gifts and blessings have happened since I started going to our region assemblies and World … Read More
Traditions Tradition 3: Desire and Beyond Many a member has said that if the requirements for membership in OA were more stringent than “a desire to stop eating compulsively,” they probably wouldn’t have felt qualified to be at a meeting. Unfortunately, this unique requirement—the only requirement in our entire Fellowship—is often used to avoid being “made” to do anything else that makes somebody uncomfortable, like having … Read More