Recovery Working the Program Promises Missed I enjoyed my August 2014 Lifeline very much but think the issue’s title could have been better. I am a huge fan of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, and credit my fourteen-plus years and more than 80 pounds (36 kg) of recovery to repeatedly working the Steps with my sponsor using the Big Book directions. I love all the promises … Read More
Newcomers The Magic Number I should be the poster child for “keep coming back” because my stubbornness is finally paying off. I regularly showed up to a meeting once a week for almost two years, but I wasn’t working the program and I didn’t have a sponsor. Today, I am a newcomer with a newcomer’s mind. Until a month ago, I did little more … Read More
Steps Cleaning Out the Closet My first sponsor pointed out that the promises of the program are clear: If we clean up the past (Steps Four through Nine) and continue to take daily inventory (Steps Ten and Eleven), ever relying on God, then we can be free of cravings, restored to sanity and power, and find our will becoming aligned to that of our Higher … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Happy Camper I was two years into recovery when my partner and I packed up our car with abstinent food, my food scale, an air mattress, two lanterns, and our very first tent. We hit the open road on an eight-day, crosscountry trip across the southeastern United States. I’d already researched historical sites, museums, and campsites, and I felt profound gratitude for my … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Out of the Spin Cycle Before OA changed everything, my life was so unmanageable I couldn’t see that I was physically exhausted, emotionally oblivious, and spiritually impoverished. At 5 feet 10 inches (177 cm) tall and weighing 267 pounds (121 kg), my body was tired; I lived in every kind of pain. I could only identify the most basic emotions: anger, sadness, or happiness (it … Read More
Unity Day Lighting the Day Last February 28, about thirty-five OA members joined together at Milwaukee’s Dewey Center to honor the Principle of unity with a candlelight ceremony. All around the world OA members were celebrating Unity Day in their own ways. Our local Unity Day focused on Principles, Steps, Traditions, and promises. The Milwaukee Area Intergroup provided a setting with a spiral of unlit candles … Read More