Tools & Concepts Tooling through Recovery Please keep stepping. I am following you, watching. Please keep serving. I am needing you, calling. Please keep sharing. I am learning from you, listening. Please keep praying. I am kneeling with you, awakening. Please keep reading. I am quoting you, speaking. Please keep confiding. I am counting on you, protecting. Please keep planning. I am writing with you, abstaining. … Read More
Traditions Focus on the Message When I first came to OA, I was a very complicated person (by my own doing) who responded to uncertainty, frustration, resentment, and fear by overeating. At my very first meeting, however, the OA message was delivered right on target, with two of the four members present sharing succinctly how they got over compulsive overeating. By their visible appearance, all … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Group Project Having a spiritual awakening meant admitting my need for other people. Before OA, I was convinced it was up to me to stop eating compulsively. But having a group that works together potentiates any project’s effectiveness. Hearing others share about similar issues with food and feeling the group’s support have both helped my recovery. Also, by changing my relationship to … Read More
Steps Traditions Trigger Food Taboo Q. Why is mentioning a specific food or restaurant considered a trigger in an OA meeting? Is there an official OA stance on this subject? A. OA does not have an official stance, and mentioning or not mentioning trigger foods is not addressed in OA literature. Tradition Four gives groups the autonomy to make this decision for themselves, but the … Read More
Share It Table and Field I was interested in the Lifeline article concerning kneeling while praying (“Prayer Positions,” October 2018). There is no way my knees will allow me to kneel for any reason. I start my day reading my OA literature, writing a thank-you letter to God, and praying while sitting at a table. In my younger days, I often sent my most fervent … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Showing Up Imperfect I remember when I first started coming to OA meetings. I felt like people were looking at me differently, like they knew I was new and ignorant of their “OA ways.” I felt like an outsider. They spoke in a different way and had so much self-awareness. I only knew how to talk about the food, not emotions or the … Read More
Recovery Relationships Laugh In It’s such a blessing to laugh at myself, to see humor in the midst of misery. There’s so much laughter in the rooms, laughter at how ridiculous we are in the disease. The laughter is healing. It connects us—all of us, we all relate. We relate and we laugh and we know we’re not alone in these experiences, these thoughts, … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Aptly Named I wanted to share how this magazine is truly a lifeline. I came into OA in July 2013, and I became abstinent in October 2013. A Sunday meeting used an issue of Lifeline magazine, and it hooked me. I borrowed the issue and brought it to my home group to share how great Lifeline is. They agreed. I wanted and needed … Read More
Tools & Concepts Writing Work the Workbook Prior to May 1979, I was unhappy, overweight, and miserable. I ate to console myself, and things got worse with every binge. The vicious cycle was a major part of my life, and I saw no way out. Fast-forward thirty-six years, and I have been blessed with many miracles. Abstinence has become the most important thing in my life, and I … Read More
Tools & Concepts Writing Participate and Be Blessed When I entered the doors of OA, I weighed 162 pounds (73 kg) and stood five feet one inches tall (155 cm). I’d been struggling to drop pounds for several years after having some success with a commercial weight-loss program, but I’d plateaued and didn’t know how to move past it. I felt hopeless and powerless. So, Step One came … Read More
