Steps Traditions The Daily-ness of Surrender Surrender is a daily practice that I can choose or not: “the daily treatment that brings about our recovery,” as it says at the end of Step One (p. 7) in our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition. All I have is a “daily reprieve” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., p. 85). For my recovery, taking the … Read More
Steps Traditions Accessible to All When I showed up at my first OA meeting, I did not have the desire to stop eating compulsively. I was morbidly obese and had lost and gained large amounts of weight throughout my life. My desires back then were different. I wanted to be thin. I wanted the emotional pain to stop. I wanted a reason to continue living. … Read More
Recovery A Celebration of Freedom I have had the good fortune of attending two World Service Conventions since I became a member of Overeaters Anonymous in 1980. My first was in New York City in 1997, and the venue was an iconic hotel. Although I lived in New Jersey, I’d never had the opportunity to stay at such a landmark in the heart the city … Read More
Fellowship Recovery The World’s Longest String In the summer of 1979, I, along with three other compulsive overeaters, none of whom weighed less than 225 pounds (102 kg), jumped into my subcompact car (talk about a low-riding chassis!) and drove twelve hours from Durham, North Carolina. Our destination? New York City, home of the 1979 World Service Convention. What do I remember? I remember the show … Read More
Share It Share It: Powerful Shares, Joyful Reading, Pages and Prayers Powerful Shares I wanted to share how sad I am to hear about the discontinuation of Lifeline. It has literally been a lifeline to me. I am one of the ones who answered your 2018 subscription appeal, and I recently renewed my subscription and will cherish every last issue. Thank you for the articles about “The Joys of Retreats and … Read More
Steps Traditions Authority in the Rooms When I came into OA about thirty-three years ago, I was working for an important corporation. It just amazed me that OA meetings were so much more efficient and effective than corporate meetings. Corporate meetings, with all the power, resources, and experience at their disposal, should have been the better, but in my observation, here is what I’ve learned. Everyone … Read More
Steps An Idea Whose Time Has Come My thinking can get me into a ditch on the side of the road. For example, if I read Step Two questions such as “What do I need from a Higher Power? What would I like such a Power to be and do in my life?” (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 13), I … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Recovery’s Greatest Hits I’m planning on attending the next World Service Convention, and I hope you plan to attend too. I was so grateful to attend World Service Conventions in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2013 and Boston, Massachusetts, in 2016, and I’m sure the next Convention will be equally rewarding for my recovery. The 2013 Convention was “right in my backyard” since I’m in … Read More
Steps Digging Differently As part of my daily program routine, I have been reading the Big Book and then writing on certain passages. On page 325 of Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition, it states, “You hit bottom when you stop digging.” I can thankfully say that I’m not still digging in the way that I used to. I had many years of digging and … Read More
Steps Traditions My Part of Together OA’s Twelve Traditions offer guidelines on how we can all get along. Simply put, we come into OA from diverse cultures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities, and defects, so these guidelines are necessary for our survival as an organization. It is no surprise, then, that unity should be our First Tradition. This tradition forms the cornerstone of our organization; it’s how we … Read More
