Tools & Concepts The Step Ten Connection Action plans are boring aren’t they? They’re just another way of procrastinating. The best thing is to just get on with it! I’d heard statements like these from many people in OA meetings, but I wasn’t really sure what I thought, because I wasn’t actually doing an action plan. The OA Tools of Recovery were well known to me, and … Read More
Tools & Concepts Anything You Need When action plan was added to the Tools ten years ago, I was not sure how to utilize it. I looked up what action plan means: “An action plan is the process of identifying and implementing attainable actions, both daily and long-term, that are necessary to support our individual abstinence and emotional, spiritual, and physical recovery” (The Tools of Recovery, … Read More
Traditions Guarding the Traditions At OA meetings, I often hear shares that include social issues. We members are products of our environment, after all, and those environments can include poverty, deprivation, abuse, harassment, homelessness, injustice, unfairness at work, and victimization by criminals. For my part, I have a social conscience, and my failure to live up to its demands is a factor in my … Read More
Higher Power Tools & Concepts So That’s What the Tools Are All About After five years in program, it was just this year that I came to understand the Tools. For a long time, I thought they were the program. If I wanted to be working the program, I just had to be using the Tools. A little farther along, I believed my abstinence rested on whether I had used the Tools that … Read More
Fellowship Energizing Guide I’ve been an active member of Overeaters Anonymous for thirty-one years, and I’m maintaining a healthy body weight. Over the years, I have worked the Twelve Steps and learned to live the Principles. It was so exciting at the 2016 World Service Convention in Boston to see the Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Step Workshop and Study Guide revealed for purchase. Of … Read More
Fellowship Retreats Revitalize Renewal, revival, resurgence: these are all emotions I experienced this weekend at the annual retreat sponsored by my intergroup. It was held at the foot of Mount Beacon, a tranquil place of beauty in the Hudson Valley of Upstate New York. The bright, sunny facility had numerous comfortable rooms where we met for breakout sessions and meditations. The beautiful grounds … Read More
Tools & Concepts My Action Plan: A Checklist I’ve been in Overeaters Anonymous for decades to help me deal with the many facets of my compulsive eating, including bingeing, dieting, starving, using laxatives, and overexercising. Before I joined OA, my weight ranged from a high of 150 pounds (68 kg) to a low of 89 (40 kg). At my lowest weight, I thought I looked fat, and at … Read More
Tools & Concepts The “Write Way” to Work the Steps When I first came into OA and sought out a sponsor to guide me along my path to recovery, she asked me to complete a reading and writing assignment every day. At this, I balked! I’m not that good of a writer and didn’t think I’d be capable of doing it. She was kind and gentle with me, but insisted that … Read More
Tools & Concepts Gearing Up for Recovery I began using the Tools of Recovery before I even knew they were the Tools. It started with the Tool of meetings: I attended my first one, then my second. As I listened to others’ shares, I kept hearing, “Find a sponsor.” When I made the decision to jump in, I found a sponsor (a second Tool) who had what … Read More
Tools & Concepts Dual Purpose My perspective on the Tools has changed, and I’ve been reflecting on why that’s happened. When I first worked the Steps with my sponsor, I realized that the Steps were what would bring recovery. But I also learned that I needed to look after my spiritual condition lest I be enticed by food. Whenever I had a food thought— and … Read More
