Recovery Working the Program Doing What I Can I had wanted to give service in any way I could. When there were no abstinent people available for a position on the intergroup board for our region, I offered to take up a position that I had thought I could do. I did not think my attention deficit disorder would be a problem, because I knew how to write … Read More
Fellowship Recovery My Life Depends on You Recently, my schedule changed, so I had to change my weekly attendance to a different OA meeting. Sadly, the new meeting has been disappointing. The turnout is rarely more than five or six people. Sometimes, only two are there to get the meeting started, and several members show up late. This type of behavior in recovery is disturbing to me … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Virtual Family Attending meetings, listening, and sharing struggles is a program requirement that works for my recovery. Undeniably, however, I am an introverted person. I have always been uncomfortable in groups in which I do not play a clear role as a provider of service. I had a vital role to play at work each day for forty-two years. Service is in … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Recovery’s Greatest Hits I’m planning on attending the next World Service Convention, and I hope you plan to attend too. I was so grateful to attend World Service Conventions in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2013 and Boston, Massachusetts, in 2016, and I’m sure the next Convention will be equally rewarding for my recovery. The 2013 Convention was “right in my backyard” since I’m in … Read More
How OA Changed My Life Recovery Denial, Defiance, Desperation, Destiny I came into OA in 1994. I got a sponsor at my second meeting, went to three meetings per week, and had the great fortune of being “struck abstinent” within my first two weeks. I began working the Steps and had two years of good solid abstinence. That’s when I thought to myself, “I got this.” I have since learned … Read More
Fellowship Recovery On Voting and the Traditions Is it a Tradition break that only trusted servants can vote? Our Second Tradition says, “All those who considers themselves a group member are welcome to speak or vote. To exclude some from speaking or voting on decisions for the group denies them effective membership in the group.” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, pp. … Read More
Steps Traditions My Part of Together OA’s Twelve Traditions offer guidelines on how we can all get along. Simply put, we come into OA from diverse cultures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities, and defects, so these guidelines are necessary for our survival as an organization. It is no surprise, then, that unity should be our First Tradition. This tradition forms the cornerstone of our organization; it’s how we … Read More
Steps Traditions Stepping Up to Recovery I cannot believe I have been abstinent long enough to have made it to Step Twelve. When I first came to this program, I would not have thought my life would be as it is now. It is very different. I am more open to life and active in it. The spiritual awakening I have experienced involves knowing I am … Read More
Sponsoring Tools & Concepts Online Recovery One of the things available today is the vigorous online Fellowship. I was unable to attend face-to-face meetings for my first two years in OA, but I found an abstinent sponsor online who guided me through the Steps to abstinence and recovery. Because she lived in a different country, we only had one phone call for Step Five, but we … Read More
Relapse Relapse & Recovery One Thing I Did Right I’m sorry to say I’ve had many relapses during my twenty-two years in program. But the last five years have been much better: back-to-back abstinence based on putting together a program that uses all the OA elements. My program reminds me of my first relapse, how I got into it and how I got out. I had come into OA … Read More