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, …

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 …

When I came into OA in 1983, I was taught early on about the G-A-S that makes the program run: Gratitude, Abstinence, and Service. I started my service by giving rides to meetings, arranging for my two daughters to babysit so young mothers could get to meetings, and making at least three phone calls every day. I set up the …

I am writing this as one of the assignments my sponsor gives me. She asked me to write on the action plan Tool. As I understand this Tool, it means using whatever it takes to help me achieve and maintain my abstinence. What actions have I started to take to help me do this? I make sure I get to …

I learned about service when I first came into OA long ago, working the Steps and using the Tools. I learned it was good for my recovery to get out of my head and do things for others—that one recovering compulsive eater reaching out to another is the foundation of OA. I learned that no CEO presides over us. Rather, …

Tradition Nine OA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. It took me a while to become comfortable with Tradition Nine. To my ordered, rule-oriented mind, Tradition Nine felt a little loosey-goosey. Who’s in charge? How do we get anything done? Who makes the decisions? These were …