I am a 62-year-old male, and since I came into program at the end of March 2015, my marriage has been restored and my family is mostly on good terms with me. My depression has lifted. I have excellent friendships inside and outside the Fellowship, and I feel a joy in daily living I had not felt for forty or …

One of my self-care activities is to spend time with the beautiful wildflowers that we are blessed to have in Tennessee. One of the first wildflowers to announce the coming of spring around here is the bloodroot, and I took pictures just as some were beginning to blossom. As I looked at the small cluster of flowers (right), I thought …

After I’d worked all Twelve Steps using the Big Book, then worked them again using The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, my sponsor asked me to read through and study the Twelve Traditions. Up to that point, I’d thought the Traditions were the “extra” pages in the Twelve and Twelve—like the index or glossary. However, I found a …

My first sponsor pointed out that the promises of the program are clear: If we clean up the past (Steps Four through Nine) and continue to take daily inventory (Steps Ten and Eleven), ever relying on God, then we can be free of cravings, restored to sanity and power, and find our will becoming aligned to that of our Higher …

As I celebrate my twentieth birthday of abstinent recovery in OA, I am filled with gratitude, joy, and hope. Prior to February 14, 1996, these incredible gifts were in short supply as I navigated through life, bingeing and depressed, depressed and bingeing. For decades, I expended endless amounts of energy keeping up appearances and maintaining my dirty little facade. I was …

Attending World Service Business Conference as a delegate, I discovered how much responsibility is involved in shaping and maintaining the OA recovery framework from which we all benefit. Every policy and piece of literature goes through an extensive process that includes several layers of review and revision. Ordinary OA members participate in that development process, so our program’s resources are the …

I remember when I was new to OA. I sat with my first sponsor, going over my journaling on Step One. It took quite a bit of time, and I couldn’t believe how patiently my sponsor sat there, listening. She wasn’t giving advice. Periodically she shared her experience, strength, and hope, but mostly, she just offered the gift of understanding. …

When I reflect on my life before I embraced recovery in Overeaters Anonymous, I can only describe it as a vast, dark, dry, soulless wasteland. My old life ended on June 9, 2009, the day of my second entry into Overeaters Anonymous. I was immediately abstinent and this time (one day at a time) it “took.” I’m not sure why . …

I believe the OA Fellowship tells us that all recovering members have two things in common: They have a sponsor, and they are willing to be a sponsor. Being a sponsor has given me so much more than I could ever give. I have been touched by the love and appreciation I receive from those I sponsor. In reaching out to …

When reflecting on our precious Tools of recovery, I always forget one (probably the one I need to concentrate on most). So I use a mnemonic device to help me recall all of the Tools: And          Action plan Please      Plan of eating Spend      Sponsorship More        Meetings Time     …