I have been actively recovering in OA since 1986. I am lucky to live in an area with many meetings, but I have always supplemented meetings with readings from my subscription to Lifeline. The wisdom found in this little magazine has connected me with recovering OA members whom I never would have met and has helped me grow in so …

Spirituality is the solution to our problem of powerlessness, and we find this solution in the Twelve Step program of recovery. I’ve experienced three stepping-stones in this process: Amen, Amends, Amended Life. Step Three. Amen. So be it. I’ve made a decision to surrender to this process. Steps Four to Nine. The process of housecleaning, ending with my amends. Steps …

In 1993, I sneaked into my first OA meeting. My shame told me you were all just crazy fat people, even crazier and fatter than I was—what could you possibly do to help me? Twenty years later, my home group was reading “Rozanne’s Story” (Overeaters Anonymous, Third Edition, pp. 7–22), and it struck me that Rozanne was inspired to create our …

I would like to explain how Lifeline has supported my recovery. For me, Lifeline has been an important part of the Tool of literature. Its small size has made it very convenient to carry in my purse or suitcase, and it has been very convenient to use. I almost always have one in the car to read while I am waiting. …

Like many in OA, I found that my compulsion to overeat originated in childhood. I came from a broken home with absent parents, and my happiest memories were of family visits to buffets and gatherings with large meals. I was praised for my “healthy appetite,” which invoked feelings of love and acceptance around overeating. I had a fast metabolism, so …

I wanted to share with the Fellowship how much I appreciate the Twelve Step Workshop and Study Guide and how I have used it. I started by reading it cover to cover. I was excited to learn that such a variety of our OA literature is referenced as well as the good old AA literature. When I came into OA in 1978 (and hit …

I’m a member of a virtual group, and neither my current hometown nor the place I’m planning to move to has an OA presence. My virtual meeting doesn’t have literature for sale. For every bit of literature I own, I have paid exorbitant prices and postage. I understand that service offices need to cover the cost of printing, but an OA pamphlet that has …

I was complaining recently to my sponsor about the religious language of the Eleventh Step Prayer (AA Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 99), and she suggested I rewrite it in language that is meaningful to me. Perhaps this version will speak to other compulsive overeaters: Higher Power, help me to convey the peace of mind you have given me. Where I find hatred, I can show …

Nearly every day, I fill out a Tenth Step form. This was something my sponsor gave me a few weeks after I entered program even though it was some months before I formally reached the Tenth Step. As I fill out the form, I reflect on how I’ve worked my program that day, what my gratitudes are, and whether I’ve been resentful, fearful, dishonest, or …

As a part of making amends to myself, which was suggested by my sponsor, I created the following prayer. The prayer lists positive characteristics that oppose my character defects, which I discovered when working my Fourth and Fifth Steps. By saying this prayer daily and out loud to my HP, I am acting as if I believe these good characteristics are true about myself and trusting my HP to lead me to this recovered …