Sponsoring Tools & Concepts A Grateful Goodbye My first sponsor, M., passed away last month. He was one of the first people I met in OA, but it was a year before he became my sponsor. He was one of the few men I’d met and one of very few OA members who identified as a sponsor. I wrote down his number, but at the time, he … Read More
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Key to Accountability It took me thirty years to get a sponsor—really. That’s how hardheaded and faithless I am. But when I finally did surrender to having a sponsor, it made all the difference. I finally was accountable; but more than that, I had a guide, a friend, and a sounding board. My recovery grew exponentially, so much so that I even took … 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
Literature Tools & Concepts Uplifting Thoughts I’m grateful to be abstinent, by the grace of God and the power of the Twelve Steps, for twenty-one years and five months. I’ve lost about 55 pounds (25 kg), and I’m blessed to be at goal weight. Reading Lifeline expands my recovery and helps me see my recovery from a different perspective. Sometimes, I get stuck in my self-centered thinking, … Read More
Relapse Slipping & Sliding No-Apologies “Carefrontation” Is there anything more heartbreaking than listening to and watching people in program who simply can’t seem to get and stay abstinent? Day after day, month after month, they show up at meetings, but the gift of abstinence eludes them. Compulsive eaters can become so physically sick that they will swear off the abuse for a little while, but a … Read More
Recovery Danger and Dental Floss I came into OA in March 1977 and have been abstinent since January 1980. After losing 30 pounds (14 kg), I have maintained a normal body weight. I have been imperfectly working the Steps for almost forty-two years, and here’s what I’ve learned. Step One is the foundation Step. I admit I am different. Everything must flow from my belief (though … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts A Better Understanding I have heard it said, “A meeting is a meeting,” but I don’t really think that’s true. For a meeting to be strong, it must have certain things about it to make it so: Is the meeting a welcoming place for both long timers and newcomers? Is the nature of our illness discussed? In my opinion, a strong meeting will … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Quickly or Slowly Like many compulsive overeaters, I entered the rooms of OA only to lose weight. I’d tried dozens of weight loss programs and lost weight, only to gain it back plus more. I came for the vanity and stayed for the sanity. I really listened to the Big Book promises when they were read aloud at OA meetings, and I realized … Read More
Traditions Corporate Conscience When I came into OA about thirty-three years ago, I was working for an important corporation. It just amazed me that our OA meetings were very much more efficient and effective than corporate meetings. Corporate meetings, with all their power, resources, and experience, should have been the better in my mind. But I observed differently, and here is what I … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts Don’t Disappear Last year, I reflected on whether I should run for another term as intergroup chair. Because of work and family commitments, I felt I was not as effective in the last term as I could have been. It was the second time I had served as an intergroup chair in my twenty-five years in OA. I wondered if I should … Read More