Service Tools & Concepts Elect to Serve! The next time you see upcoming nominations and elections of your intergroup’s board members, I want to encourage you to participate in the nomination and election process. Do it for your fellows and do it for yourself. Here are some of the benefits that I have received in the past year doing service at the individual, meeting, and intergroup level. … Read More
Steps Traditions Guardian of My Recovery My understanding and appreciation of anonymity has gone through several evolutions. At first, I clutched onto the security and safety that no one would tell anyone else that they saw me here. Deep feelings of shame, humiliation, vanity, human respect, and all facets of my public face sought the protection of anonymity. Gradually, I relaxed and began to identify with … Read More
Tools & Concepts Anonymity Benefits Wow! Anonymity is so important to OA, it’s part of the name of our organization. As Tradition Twelve states: “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” The new second edition of the OA Twelve and Twelve does an excellent job of explaining the many ways we all benefit from anonymity. … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Holiday Pocket Guide During holidays, I can almost feel the frenzy in the air: my fellow compulsive eaters’ worry. Holidays can bring stress, require travel, demand hosting duties, or carry us to strange kitchens and dining tables. Holidays confront us with our love-hate relationship with food and may require stocking up for family feasts at unfamiliar grocery stores. Great anticipation about being with … Read More
Steps Morning Crossing When I drew this picture, I realized that I was like the baby loon on its mother’s back. If I try to venture out alone, I am facing a lot of danger from my disease, which hides below the surface. So every morning, I have to turn over my will to God and ride along, safe because God cares for … Read More
Diversity Recovery Around the World Familiar Format I am on social media a lot, and I was fortunate to be among the first members of the first registered OA group on a popular social media site. We follow all Twelve Traditions of OA and have two meetings a week. I found my sponsors through this group. Through the site, I message one of them daily about my food, … Read More
Spirituality All I’ve Ever Wanted I have been maintaining an abstinent weight of 125 pounds (57 kg) since September 2015. My early life was what I’d call a perfect breeding ground for addiction: I grew up in an alcoholic home full of insanity, loud arguments that got my heart pounding, shame, abandonment, and no talk of a Higher Power at all. I remained hyper vigilant, turning … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery Recovery Gold For me, the disease of compulsive eating is like the best friend you love to death and stick with no matter what, until you notice she is crazy, hurts you, lets you down, and doesn’t give you the support you once got from her. Then it hurts so much that you want a “friend divorce,” but you also can’t believe … Read More
Relationships Strong Force of Support Dear Sponsor, I received an outreach call from you at a time when I was grappling with the idea of never going back to OA. I was struggling with a few of my defects, and because I felt overwhelmed by them, it was easy for me to blame another party for my relapse into my old patterns of eating. I … Read More
Recovery Around the World Combined Strength I need meetings to be strong, vibrant places where a variety of voices express recovery through each person’s story of experience, strength, and hope. I grow concerned when I hear about OA meetings shrinking or closing entirely. Fewer meetings with fewer members means danger for me. I need support, and I need to be able to reach out to others. … Read More