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 Recovery On Voting and the Traditions Is it a Tradition break that only trusted servants can vote? Our Second Tradition says, “All those who considers themselves a group member are welcome to speak or vote. To exclude some from speaking or voting on decisions for the group denies them effective membership in the group.” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, pp. … Read More
Fellowship Print Preference I got my voice in Overeaters Anonymous. No one wanted to listen to me at 304 pounds (138 kg). They seemed to think I had no right to speak or they didn’t have to listen. If I couldn’t control my eating, it must’ve meant I wasn’t smart. Well, I would now like to use my voice to tell you and everyone … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Special Focus Meeting I have a question regarding special focus meetings. I see that there is a selection of special focuses, including 100-pounder, anorexia/bulimia, and bariatric surgery. I am wondering if that list represents the only special focuses approved for OA meetings, or if it is allowable to have an OA meeting with another special focus. The special focus that I have in … Read More
Steps Traditions Unity’s Answer Tradition One: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity. Nothing bonds relationships more comfortably than a common enemy. People are willing to put their differences, opinions, and beliefs aside when that common root helps everybody overcome. This is the heart that pumps the blood of OA. In the rooms, we all suffer from the same … Read More
Diversity Newcomers Search Support It was May of 2015, and I was up 30 pounds (14 kg) after a yearlong sugar binge. Although I’d been on a constant roller coaster of losing and gaining, this was the biggest weight gain I’d experienced in seven years. It was also the low point when I began to realize my powerlessness over food. I had not yet … Read More
Twelfth Step Within Designating a Position Within Twelfth Step Within Day is coming! What will you be doing on December 12? On the twelfth day of the twelfth month every year, OA members strengthen our Fellowship by reaching out to still-suffering members within the program: members in relapse, members who have fallen away, and members needing extra support. This December 12, consider arranging a special event or … Read More
Recovery Around the World From Me to We When I first came to the program of Overeaters Anonymous, I found out I wasn’t alone; there were lots of people who had the same disease that I had. What a relief! I no longer had to attempt to do this on my own, and I was offered the hope of recovery. As I became aware of the diversity of … Read More
