Tools & Concepts Dual Purpose My perspective on the Tools has changed, and I’ve been reflecting on why that’s happened. When I first worked the Steps with my sponsor, I realized that the Steps were what would bring recovery. But I also learned that I needed to look after my spiritual condition lest I be enticed by food. Whenever I had a food thought— and … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Walking Through It When I joined OA in 1977, our program was seventeen years old, and I wasn’t much older. In those days, the only food plan was the gray sheet, a fairly restrictive but useful way to eat. I had no idea how much to eat of what, until a practical food plan gave me a map. I called in my food every day … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Whatever and However As a sickly kid, I learned to be dependent on my mother. She made all the decisions for me, and I learned that I was incapable of picking myself up when I fell. She was judgemental and emotionally abusive—a rageaholic and compulsive overeater. At age five, my clothes fit tightly because I was fat. I ate to bury the pain, … Read More
Recovery Working the Program School is Cool Every year at this time, I watch the neighborhood kids walk, bike, and skateboard back to school. They’re dressed in the newest styles and carry backpacks filled with colorful notebooks, art supplies, and new books to read. Maybe we can recapture some of that back-to-school feeling and boost our OA recovery program at the same time! With school supplies on … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Up to Speed I am a compulsive overeater. While not every day of my thirty-nine years in OA has been an abstinent day, for many years now, I’ve been gratefully recovering and maintaining a healthy weight. Being a teacher by profession has led me to watch for ways to boil things down to their simplest form. I look for little tricks to help … Read More
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Walking Through One of the better moves I made in early recovery was finding a sponsor. I was fortunate. After much trepidation, I found a sponsor who lived and practiced the Steps and made that the focus of our relationship. At that time, the program had food sponsors, Step sponsors, and spiritual sponsors, and over the years, I got help from people … Read More
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts A Good Sponsor Wannabe My sponsorship style is patterned after the way I was sponsored: I try to be gracious, kind, and compassionate. I also attempt, as my sponsor does, to match my style of sponsoring to the needs of the sponsee—not always an easy task—and I have found this approach often needs tweaking as my sponsee and I go along. The specifics of … Read More
Recovery Working the Program First, I Trusted At a recent OA speaker meeting, I was struck by a question asked during the Q&A session: “What did you do first?” My own answer is: First, I trusted that OA had a solution. I came to OA in either 2004 or 2005—I really cannot remember because I was in a food fog. I do remember that my ritual of … Read More
lifeline Share It Cover Blown I’m from a very diverse area and have been in OA for forty-three years. I noticed the cover of the March Lifeline has only white people represented. We’ve had a lot of discussion about race in OA, and it’s caused our meetings to become aware of this kind of lack of understanding of racial issues. Can we do something to … Read More
Recovery Working the Program Strong Weave, Durable Fabric I have been working with the Voices of Recovery Workbook and my sponsor suggested I submit my response to the questions of January 8: “How would I describe my recovery tapestry? What are the program threads I’ve used to weave it?” (p. 4). I am so lucky to have found this program. I would have to describe my recovery tapestry as … Read More