I wanted to write this weeks ago, and now with all that’s changed and slowed down in the world, I can do service and write. May all of you be well and cared for. In “Send Us Your Stories” in the Nov/Dec 2019 issue, one of the topics listed was “Breaking and Mending Relationships.” I must say, when I first …

Many times in the OA rooms, I’d heard people talk about putting themselves at the top of the list when beginning their Ninth Step amends. People said they’d punished, neglected, or mistreated themselves at least as much as they did anyone else, so self-amends were in order. I listened, but I just didn’t get it. Oh, I could run a …

There are problems faced by OA members who do not practice a dogma-based spirituality. These problems could be eliminated by restating certain Steps and Traditions to align with Tradition Ten. In OA, I was constantly being told: living within ethical and moral principles can only occur within dogma-based spiritual practices. spirituality is only expressed by belief in a singular and …

I dreaded the Ninth Step more than any of the others, even the Fourth and Fifth Steps. I’ve always envied those who seem to lead fairly normal lives, doing no more than a minimal amount of damage as they went along. I’m not one of those. My selfishness and self-centeredness knew no limits. Everywhere I went, everything I participated in, …

After thirty years in OA, I’m still deeply grateful that I’ve been able to keep off more than 150 pounds (68 kg). A critical part of my success has been working the Twelve Steps of OA. When I first joined OA, I was able to quickly work Steps One through Seven. Then came the feared Steps Eight and Nine. Because I …

Last year, I reached Step Nine and had seven amends to make. I made five of them months ago. The two that are left are my parents, and to be honest, the only reason I haven’t made amends with my dad is because I consider them a package deal. So the amends I’m stalling on is to my mother. “I’m …

I am currently three and a half years abstinent and working Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve to the best of my ability, one day at a time. During a recent morning call with a sponsee, I was listening to a Step Ten resentment she’d written about. When she got to the part of identifying her character defects and shortcomings in this …

When I began OA in October 2000, I chose a sponsor who had what I wanted. She shared her experience of working through the Steps and Traditions of OA with her sponsor, and I began my process according to her experience, strength, and hope. I purchased OA’s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions book along with its companion, The Twelve Step Workbook of Overeaters …

I first became a sponsor in 2008 as part of working the OA program of recovery. I started sponsoring after experiencing seventy days of back-to-back abstinence, working the first three Steps, following the OA-HOW structured meeting format, and soaking up lots of love and physical, emotional, and spiritual healing like a dry sponge. I came to OA obese and full …

During my past twenty years of abstinence from compulsive overeating and compulsive food behaviors, doing my best to incorporate the Principles of OA’s Twelve Steps into every moment of my daily routine, I have often heard that compliance is not the same as surrender. I believe this to be true, for I have watched as members working a program of …