Traditions The Spirit of Tradition Eleven My earliest memories are of me playing in front of the mirror. The game I played consisted of me pretending to be famous and answering questions from an invisible interviewer. I remember what a blast it was, mimicking TV commercials, award ceremonies, and entertainment shows. Twenty years later, I found myself in a public relations and marketing career, getting paid … Read More
lifeline Literature A Written Fellowship Borrow, read, return. Borrow, read, return. Purchase, read, pass along. Purchase, read, pass along. That was how I read Lifeline magazine for my first few years of program. Then I started buying issues from my intergroup and holding on to them. The oldest issue I still have is from November 1980, a copy I’ve kept since it includes a Share … Read More
Abstinence Twelfth Step Within Working the Program It Can Happen to Anyone On April 24, 2019, I lost my mother very unexpectedly due to a stroke. About a month after my mother passed, my year-long romantic relationship ended very unexpectedly. Today, my father is in a nursing home with dementia. I am an only child. Basically, my biggest fears have been happening, and for all intents and purposes, I’ve been alone. I … Read More
Recovery Uncategorized What OA Has Done for Me One of my trigger foods was sugar, and on January 4, 2016, I surrendered all recreational sugar to my HP. I have remained abstinent. My attitude has changed. I have written my Fourth Step three times and worked my way through the Twelve Steps three times. I have released almost 100 pounds (45 kg), and my three-legged stool is stable … Read More
Abstinence Abstainers and Maintainers I’ve been thinking that a list of the common characteristics among longtime abstainers and maintainers in Overeaters Anonymous might be very revealing and helpful. In my mind, I picture all these members attributing everything on the list below to working the program—the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions—into their daily lives: They have a healthy and conscious relationship with a loving … Read More
lifeline Literature Heart-Felt Pages I have been an OA member for thirty-five years and abstinent from sugar and wheat products for thirty-four years. Yes, that is miraculous, but the real miracle is that this bratty girl who didn’t want to have anything to do with the spiritual part of our Twelve Step program now can’t seem to live without her Higher Power. Reading OA … Read More
Service Peace of Mind in Service Throughout my entire spiritual journey through the Twelve Steps, no Step guaranteed me freedom from the obsession to eat compulsively as much as the Twelfth Step did. Every Step I took brought me closer to my Higher Power, but I never felt true peace of mind until I began taking other compulsive eaters through the Steps. As the Big Book … Read More
Anonymity Ask-It Basket Posting Local Podcasts The German Language Service Board would like to upload audio recordings of meeting speakers to our homepage. I know such podcasts already exist on oa.org, so we wanted to learn the procedure. I’m especially interested in whether the contributions are reviewed beforehand and whether any violations of Tradition are removed. I would also like to know if the people who … Read More
lifeline Literature So Many Gems I just came from my Friday noon OA meeting. There were four of us and we read the daily page from Voices of Recovery. I felt satisfied and contented in my skin. I ate a wonderful lunch and am now writing to Lifeline, my favorite recovery magazine and my longtime companion on this abstinent road. I don’t remember when I … Read More
Steps Carried Clearly I was recently at an OA retreat in my area with the theme “Carrying the Message,” and one of the workshops asked the question, “How do you carry the message in meetings, as sponsors, with fellows, and in your everyday life?” After I wrote my response and later shared it with the group, the workshop leader commented on my share, … Read More
