Fellowship World Service, Worldwide Friends I’ve long been a self-proclaimed “service junkie.” I learned very early the benefits of attending more than just one group. I’ve also reaped the benefits of having a sponsor and being a sponsor. It didn’t take me long at all to get involved at the group, intergroup, region, and world service levels, and I’ve been blessed to attend some of … Read More
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
Steps Traditions The Big Picture Decisions Our group considers itself free to make its own decisions, guided by a Higher Power. We don’t have to have certain values or particular ways of doing things just because some other groups do. No one can make us do things the way they think is right. We are free to do things the way we think is right. But … 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
Steps Traditions My Part of Together OA’s Twelve Traditions offer guidelines on how we can all get along. Simply put, we come into OA from diverse cultures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities, and defects, so these guidelines are necessary for our survival as an organization. It is no surprise, then, that unity should be our First Tradition. This tradition forms the cornerstone of our organization; it’s how we … 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
Traditions A Service Point of View I have been blessed to attend the World Service Business Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, for the past four years as a delegate from my intergroup. It has been an incredible learning experience and a great gift to meet members of our Fellowship from around the world. We meet to learn and share experience, strength, and hope and also … 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
