Traditions So Much More Tradition Seven: Every OA group ought to be fully self supporting, declining outside contributions. Our Seventh Tradition has been an important one for me. For years, I put $1 in my meeting’s basket if I could afford it. Honestly, there were times when even that was a stretch, like when I was going to college at age 40, living on loans … Read More
Gratitude Recovery Sweet and Simple I’ve struggled with my weight since I was 5 years old. At that time I heard my father comment, “No fat daughter of mine will ever be seen in a tutu!” Those words would haunt me for fifty years. At the time I heard them, I didn’t know I was fat; I was only in kindergarten. I had not yet … Read More
Recovery Relationships Finding Support I came into OA on May 31, 2013, fearful, bitter, angry, resentful, and worried about everything. When the Twelve Steps were read at my first meeting, I heard the First Step and thought, “How could this group of people possibly know me?” My life was unmanageable. I was on family leave to provide constant care to my husband. I was … Read More
Gratitude Recovery Grateful for Friends in OA “Any form of service—no matter how small— that helps reach a fellow sufferer adds to the quality of our own recovery.” — The Tools of Recovery I was at home on February 27 when I fell and broke my right ankle. At the emergency room, they found it was broken in two places and needed surgery. I was in the … Read More
Recovery Relationships With Support and Love Being in Overeaters Anonymous has changed my life for the better and given me a different lease on life. More importantly, it has broken those chains that for forty years prevented me from living the full life that God desires me to live. I did not discover the root cause of why I overate until 2005, when I had a … Read More
Recovery Together We Get Better When I walked through the doors of my first OA meeting I was skeptical, anxious, and ashamed. I circled the room awkwardly, found a seat, and plastered a fake smile on my face. I felt resigned that I’d finally hit such a low bottom and this was the last hope for me. But I thought that if I just tried … Read More
Recovery Relationships Different Genders, Ethnicities, And Ages Editors note: Below are two world service contributions from OA members in support of our Strategic Plan. My name is Denise, and I am a compulsive overeater. I am a 62-year old straight black woman, wife, mother, and grandmother. OA found me in 1988. I was in program then for eight years. I lost 120 pounds (54 kg) and thought … Read More
Diversity Recovery Around the World Birthday at Home Recently, I had the privilege of celebrating both my twentieth OA birthday and the twentieth birthday of my OA home group. I met OA for the first time at this group’s very first meeting. For this event, we asked our intergroup to invite other OA groups to join and celebrate our journey toward recovery. We had more than double our … Read More
Recovery Relationships Finally Understood In May 2015, I was up 30 pounds (14 kg) from a yearlong sugar binge. Though I had been on a constant roller-coaster of losing and gaining, this was the highest weight gain I had experienced in seven years. It was at this low point that I first began to realize my powerlessness over food. I had not yet found … Read More
Fellowship Service is Showing Up Our Christmas Day marathon took place at an addiction resource center from 10 a.m. until noon. Among the eight people in attendance was my sister. It was her second OA meeting. I was grateful for the opportunity to practice the Twelfth Step by sharing this program with a newcomer. The leaders of the meeting focused on daily readings from OA … Read More
