Recovery Around the World Part of the Mosaic We all belong! We all belong! We are like pieces of a puzzle individually coming together to form one picture, not because of our differences, but because of what we share—compulsive overeating. Most of my life I didn’t feel as though I fit anywhere. I was a fat child suffering the indignities of what today would be called bullying; then … Read More
Steps The Navigator I am a newcomer to OA. I’d reached my bottom weighing approximately 350 pounds (159 kg), and I started coming to meetings the following month. I have been abstinent for several months with a weight loss of about 85 pounds (39 kg). Things clicked for me right away. I knew I was in the right place with the right people. Within … Read More
Working the Program Working Lessons Thirty-one months after my first OA meeting I still feel very much an OA baby, if not a newcomer any longer. I remember vividly how it felt to ring the bell of the Bath House, where the Cambridge UK Thursday evening group meets. Although I had previous experience in another Twelve Step fellowship, I was apprehensive about OA, but the … Read More
Service Service Center I have been abstinent now seven and a half years, and service has given me so many blessings. Here are just a few: Service gave me courage to stick around. I arrived at my first OA meeting about ten minutes early, nervous and contemplating leaving. I saw somebody setting up chairs; she had about fifty to arrange, all by herself. … Read More
Steps First Steps Recently I was visiting with my 1-year-old granddaughter. I noticed that she kept kneeling, sitting, reaching down to the floor and then back up, sitting, kneeling, and pushing herself up. She kept doing these movements, up and down, up and down, over and over in all different ways, almost like she was warming up for something that she was getting … Read More
Fellowship Unity Day Totally Immersed My first Unity Day was in February, 2010. I had just started attending meetings, but I had no idea how the program worked. At a Unity Day celebration, I was exposed to dozens of people working the Steps. It wasn’t about being overweight; it was about sanity. At a workshop, I made friends who encouraged me to work the Steps, … Read More
Newcomers Fixed Design I went to my first meeting twelve days ago. I have loved the lifeline of daily conversation with my sponsor and the introspection from daily tasks that really help me stay mindful and clean. I have been asking for spiritual help for the last eight years. God has been guiding me, and today, I have a much more open, loving, … Read More
Recovery Day by Day I was having an early-morning text chat with a girlfriend when the conversation turned to her feeling overwhelmed by her weight. She was stuck in her compulsion, and she knew I used to be stuck, too, but had found an answer. She knew I was in program and had seen the physical, emotional, and mental changes I was experiencing. She … Read More
Newcomers More to Me I’ll start with an example of how distorted my thinking was when I first came to OA, even with Step One: “Of course my life had become unmanageable—but how could I be powerless over food? I’m an anorexic. Food is the only thing in my life I’ve had power over.” That didn’t sound quite right, so then I got to … Read More
Service Raised Voices My sponsor asked me to consider the Tools of literature and writing. Reading OA literature and writing my thoughts about what I read are essential to my recovery as a compulsive overeater. Here is my perspective on my fifty-eighth day of abstinence: Reading literature is another way of listening to someone’s voice. With OA literature, I can train my ears … Read More