Recovery Working the Program The Silent Engine We gather in our meetings to share our experience, strength, and hope—I hear that expression frequently. We talk about our experiences, and we share the strength we have found in program, in one another, in our literature, and primarily in working the Steps. All of this is so true and so valid. Yet, I have never—in all my thirty years of … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Able to Identify A simple definition of insanity is “unsound reasoning and judgment.” Where has my reasoning and judgment been unsound around food? I have been continuously abstinent for twenty-four years, maintaining a 100+ pound (45+ kg) weight loss. My food plan is sugar-free, flour-free, and volume-free. I follow a structured approach because it is the foundation of my physical recovery: it is … Read More
Steps Surrender Happens 24/7 When I came into OA, I was on the edge of a mental breakdown. I’d tried everything to stop my food obsession and my destructive food behaviors. I’d done a lot of work on myself and learned lots of self-help tricks, but nothing was working. I was numbing my feelings 24/7 and could not see a way out. That was … Read More
Meetings Recovery Working the Program worldwide Day or Night I need a traveling program, one that is available to me 24/7. I have used our website, oa.org, a lot. I’ve looked up in-person meetings when I travel. This past November, I was traveling on the East Coast (I live on the West Coast), and I searched and found a meeting for every day that I was available, including a … Read More
Higher Power Spirituality A More Beautiful Way to Live What in the world is spirituality anyway? I’d had a good upbringing in my family’s religion, but had no more spirituality than I had control over my eating. The God I grew up with was not personal to me, more like an ethereal image that I couldn’t grasp or really even believe in. He was from a book, rather than … Read More
Keep Coming Back Relapse Relapse & Recovery Standing in the Wings I came to Overeaters Anonymous to lose weight, period. I had no idea what the program was about. A friend told me she had lost weight in OA; maybe I could lose weight too. The methods I had tried over the years (little chocolate candies, pills, shots, nasty-tasting predigested protein, aerobic exercise while wrapped in cellophane, and actual physical exercise … Read More
Service Between Steps One and Twelve When it comes to service and footwork for OA, I rarely say no when I’m asked to do a job, unless I have a good reason. I have started meetings, held meetings in my home, provided childcare, and been the literature person, secretary, treasurer, intergroup rep, WSBC delegate, and contact person. I’ve gone to the intergroup office for needed materials, … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts The Sounds of Program I put my hand in yours, . . . At a retreat years ago in Melbourne, Australia, participants began with a trust walk. (A trust walk is where half the group closes its eyes and the other half leads them around.) Then, the roles were reversed so the other group could lead around the room. But one OA member attending … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts Growth and Security In The Twelve Concepts of OA Service under Concept Twelve, it reads: “The spiritual foundation for OA service ensures that . . . b) sufficient operating funds, plus an ample reserve, shall be OA’s prudent financial principle” (p. 13). I see a connection between that and a result of my having worked Step Nine and making financial amends, which is that … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts No Better Way The only way I know to work my program is to work my program. When something is disturbing me, I need to recognize what in me is niggled. Recently, I have been feeling less than serene about the lack of long-term abstinence at our small meetings. When we do get newcomers in the door, members who have been around for some … Read More
