Gratitude Recovery Roll Slow A gratitude item of mine has been “Learning to slow my roll, so I can learn my role.” And it still holds true every day of my OA program of recovery. What a gift! When I slow down, my Higher Power can show me the right path to take, the right choices to make, the right words to say, the … Read More
Working the Program What Gets Replaced I am a compulsive overeater Who wants what she wants when she wants it: A piece of this, A piece of that, It seems I never have enough. For me, there is also a solution: It’s OA and the Twelve Steps, Where want is surrendered, Needs are met, And enough becomes a reality. But wait—there’s more to recovery: The Principles, … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Balance in the Middle I showed up at my first OA meeting because I was exhausted from trying unsuccessfully to break the cycle of bingeing on sweets, feeling awful about my behavior and myself, restricting and exercising to compensate for bingeing, weighing myself often, and eventually bingeing on sweets again regardless of the number on the scale. I ate to comfort myself when I … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Woven More Beautifully The Voices of Recovery passage on “Weaving the Fabric of Our Lives” (p. 8), which is also the title of chapter thirteen of Beyond Our Wildest Dreams, resonates with me because the image of weaving fabric represents my recovery journey. By using the Steps to guide my work and behavior, attending OA meetings, finding a sponsor, reading OA literature, setting aside … Read More
Gratitude Recovery The Strategy of Surrender At our writing meeting, we often read articles about spiritual awakening from books such as Lifeline Sampler. Reading articles written by fellow Overeaters Anonymous members, people like me, seems to give me the deepest insights, and this particular meeting opened up a new perspective about gratitude. Once again, I became able to identify behavior patterns I’d created a long time … Read More
Traditions Responsible Acceptance At first, the Traditions had little meaning to me. At the place and time I attended meetings, the Traditions were not emphasized, so I pretty much ignored them. Oh, sure, I finally saw that the Traditions kept groups functioning, but they still didn’t mean much to me personally. My responsibility seemed to be the Steps. When I started to wake up … Read More
Recovery Relationships To Love and Be Loved Ten things that help me most in achieving serenity: Step One. I admit I’m powerless—over food and other people (their emotional well-being and their opinion of me). I’m powerless over war, famine, poverty, natural disasters—powerless over everything outside myself, and a lot of what’s inside too. Action plan. My action plan includes morning exercise and meditation. When I wake up, … Read More
Tools & Concepts Serenity on Aisle Nine On Thanksgiving Day, our area adds an extra meeting for people to attend. Emotions from anticipating family and food are high and that makes this holiday meeting so intimate and lifesaving. One year we couldn’t use any of our regular meeting places, so we decided to meet in the lounge and snack area of a local grocery store that was … Read More