Service Tools & Concepts Elect to Serve! The next time you see upcoming nominations and elections of your intergroup’s board members, I want to encourage you to participate in the nomination and election process. Do it for your fellows and do it for yourself. Here are some of the benefits that I have received in the past year doing service at the individual, meeting, and intergroup level. … Read More
Diversity Newcomers Dear Newcomer, Welcome to OA. You are a valuable asset to us. Your abilities and talents will not be overlooked in this Fellowship. Do not be hesitant to jump into service work. You will not be alone. Even if you think your idea is silly, say it anyways. Remember, Higher Power is in our group conscience. You will be heard. Remember the … Read More
Higher Power Instant Gratification It was Saturday night, and I was on my own. I was driving home to have my dinner, but I was accompanied by plenty of thoughts about food and finding a way to have just a little something sweet. After I got home and ate, I brushed my teeth and left my house to meet some friends at a social … Read More
Abstinence Blessings and Opportunities I have been maintaining my abstinence through illness, one day at a time, for the past eighteen months, and I am so grateful to other abstinent fellows who had shared with me, prior to my diagnosis, that they faced chronic health conditions. I thought it was a miracle they were abstinent despite their ill health. Then I was diagnosed with … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Strong Service Bodies “What on earth do service bodies and OA’s service structure have to do with me?” you might ask. “I just go to meetings. That other stuff is for older people in the program.” OA’s service structure has a lot to do with you, if you’re an OA member and you value your program, your recovery, your meetings, and your life. … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Our Shared Solution We recover together or not at all. This is the “we” in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. OA is not an “I” program. I tried the “I” program. It was all I knew; wasn’t I supposed to apply my will to problems and overcome them? But my food issues were impervious to my efforts. I was stuck. And I … Read More
Recovery Relationships I Give What I Want I didn’t know what I needed when I came through the doors of OA. I wanted to lose weight, but it what I really needed was love and acceptance. I needed to find out how to love, accept, and respect myself and my relationship with my HP. Today I give to others what I needed. I don’t talk down to newcomers. I don’t tell … Read More
Steps Traditions Light Reaching Out Why would you care about a visibly overweight stranger? A person who needs a chair to sit on during long strolls through a department store? A person whose breathing you can hear as you travel close by them in an elevator? Do you understand a person who never seems to gain weight yet always eats or a person who shows … Read More
Fellowship Recovery All Are Welcome Q. I keep hearing the term “food addict” when people introduce themselves at meetings. Is this okay today? I have always used the terms “compulsive eater,” or “compulsive overeater.” I personally do not care for the term “addict.” What is considered correct? A. The answer is there are no rules concerning how people introduce themselves at an OA meeting. Some … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Sharing Service My spiritual awakening came after rereading Step Three; I gradually began to trust Higher Power and became willing to turn my whole life over to him. This focus was strengthened by my daily use of meditation and gratitude lists. But before I was truly willing to do these things, I felt the presence of Higher Power being available to me. … Read More
