Traditions Wisdom in Contributing OA has always impressed me in how well it works, obviously due to Higher Power’s brilliant Twelve Traditions. The Seventh Tradition is the most revolutionary of all. I remember reading that when Bill W. was forming AA, he had connections to the very rich John D. Rockefeller and asked Rockefeller for a huge sum of money to make AA grow. … Read More
Service Tools & Concepts Inexpensive Message I’ve found it useful to think about the groups of people I associate with and consider what I’ve done lately to be of service to them. Family, religious groups, Twelve Step groups, neighbors, friends, and volunteer site workers are some of the categories of people in this inventory. A recent look at my activities showed that I wasn’t doing much … Read More
Higher Power Trusted Angels After a life of binge eating, primarily on sugar, I found my way to OA in 1991. I became abstinent right away, got a sponsor, worked the Steps, and stayed abstinent for about two years. I then lost my abstinence and was in relapse for four-and-a-half years. I became clinically depressed, gained back all my weight and then some, and … Read More
Higher Power Ten-Cent Miracle It was about 2 p.m., and I was sitting at my desk, where I work as a receptionist. The phone calls were coming in steadily, but between them, my mind would start to wander. I could hear the vending machine in the break room calling my name. It was over an hour until my next break, but the voice was … Read More
Steps Traditions Giving for Life Although we are in May, it is always a good time for me to work towards being self-supporting. Though I’ve had some slips along the way, I have a lot of experience applying this Tradition in my personal life. Here are two ways I help support the Fellowship that saved my life. I set up an ARC, an Automatic Recurring … Read More
Steps Traditions Self-Supporting through Service I sometimes use an image to explain the concept of OA groups being self-supporting. I draw a giant circle and label it “Everyone in OA.” Then I draw eleven large circles within the giant circle and label these “Regions” (there are ten land-based and one virtual). I zoom in on my own Region Four circle and draw sixteen little circles … Read More
Gratitude Recovery Gifts I Have “Have I been thankful for what I have, or have I ignored my blessings and focused on what I lack?” (Twelve and Twelve, Second Edition, pp. 33–34). In the past, I sometimes wasn’t thankful for what I had. I often longed for a better car, a better house, more money, and other things. Now that I’m in program, I am … Read More
Steps Priceless Peace Before I was halfway through my Ninth Step, I experienced, as the Big Book promises, a new freedom I’d never dreamed was possible: “Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th. ed., p. 84). I was free from the fear of financial insecurity. The feeling was new and odd. Much of my life had been … Read More
Traditions So Much More Tradition Seven: Every OA group ought to be fully self supporting, declining outside contributions. Our Seventh Tradition has been an important one for me. For years, I put $1 in my meeting’s basket if I could afford it. Honestly, there were times when even that was a stretch, like when I was going to college at age 40, living on loans … Read More
Traditions Anonymous Generosity At my meeting, we would not want to know or care if someone tossed a lot of money into the Seventh Tradition basket. All Seventh Tradition contributions are anonymous. No one will know whether I put twenty pence or twenty pounds into the basket when it goes around. We use an opaque purse large enough for a person’s hand to fit in, … Read More
