I have been abstinent fifty-seven days and am currently working on Step Three. Having a sponsor has been a vital part of working my program. For me, being sponsored was the critical element in my starting the Steps. I would not be able to work the Steps without my sponsor giving me questions to work on and apply to me …

I never destroy my Fourth Step work, so I can quickly make an Eighth Step amends list using the folks I mentioned in Step Four. But my Eighth Step list often includes more names than I’d written before. There are always more people I have harmed, even people toward whom I hold no negative feelings whatsoever, not even resentment. I …

It took me thirty years to get a sponsor—really. That’s how hardheaded and faithless I am. But when I finally did surrender to having a sponsor, it made all the difference. I finally was accountable; but more than that, I had a guide, a friend, and a sounding board. My recovery grew exponentially, so much so that I even took …

I’ve been in OA since December 1982 but did not attend a World Service Convention until 1997. I went to intergroup and Region Six conventions. I chaired local conventions and was a keynote at a regional convention outside of Region Six. Somehow, I didn’t pay much attention to any other events. Each year, I would be asked about going to …

I have thought several times that I need to write to Lifeline and tell you how much I appreciate the artwork, photos, and graphics that go with the articles. It’s obvious that a lot of time and talent goes into choosing the graphics, which really accent the message of the words. Thank you for your service in this manner. — …

One of the better moves I made in early recovery was finding a sponsor. I was fortunate. After much trepidation, I found a sponsor who lived and practiced the Steps and made that the focus of our relationship. At that time, the program had food sponsors, Step sponsors, and spiritual sponsors, and over the years, I got help from people …

My sponsorship style is patterned after the way I was sponsored: I try to be gracious, kind, and compassionate. I also attempt, as my sponsor does, to match my style of sponsoring to the needs of the sponsee—not always an easy task—and I have found this approach often needs tweaking as my sponsee and I go along. The specifics of …

In The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, it states that low self-esteem is “not at all the same as humility. In fact, a poor self-image keeps us in bondage to self and thus makes it impossible for us to find true humility” (p. 51). The next paragraph goes on to describe how compulsive eating caused …

Q. When did OA stop publishing gray and orange sheet pamphlets? A. At the 1987 World Service Business Conference, a new policy statement was adopted, after which the gray and orange sheet food plans were removed from publication. The policy was amended and then rescinded but last read: “The OA 1997 World Service Business Conference, after careful consideration, believes that …

I’m from a very diverse area and have been in OA for forty-three years. I noticed the cover of the March Lifeline has only white people represented. We’ve had a lot of discussion about race in OA, and it’s caused our meetings to become aware of this kind of lack of understanding of racial issues. Can we do something to …